Outsourcing Blog part tres

Imagine this. All of a sudden, your culture was slowly slipping away. Every shirt you wear, and the language you speak is of some one you don’t know. Scary huh? Well in Egypt, that is a reality due to outsourcing. Now, especially since call centers are moving there, in Egypt its becoming somewhat of the norm for all of their students to learn English from a young age. Dr. Hanan Khalifa from the University of Cambridge ESOL examinations put this clearly when he said “School programmes where different subjects are taught in English are increasingly achieving high standards in Egypt which is really encouraging. English Language learning is high on the agenda for the Egyptian government and through these programmes students can increase their education, employability and mobility. This all plays a huge part in raising the standards of English in Egypt and across the world.” ( News) For their generation that might be the quickest way to get a job in the future since many jobs continue to get outsourced to Egypt from the west. One other big cultural issue that arises due to outsourcing is the clothing. While one of their main exports is cotton and other textiles, much of what’s sold in malls is the same as what’s sold in America. Stores like Aeropostale are popular with the teenage crowd. As the country is 90% Muslim, that can represent a problem. (CIA) I can see this from personal experience with the female host students that visited from Egypt.  For the most part, they were excited and shopped till they dropped in the Trumbull mall here in Connecticut (the same clothes are cheaper here than in Egypt) and wear the same “Modern Clothing” that they wear back home but they also wore the hijab as a sign of respect for their religion. The younger generation has to learn how to balance clothing from the west that may not be particularly modest with their religious values because they have few other choices besides traditional garb.

            Issues of inequity between Egypt and other countries and between Egyptians themselves are rising due to outsourcing. There are issues of inequity between Egypt and other countries because they are so dependent on them due to outsourcing. For example, the U.S is Egypt’s biggest trading partner and they receive food, clothing, wood, money and such from them, necessities in other words. This is extremely evident from a quote by Ahmed El Sayed El Nagar (Chief Economist for the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies) said in an interview with Frontline reporter  Amanda Pike “The second source of incoming foreign currency into Egypt was from the United States (also remittances), which represented 32 percent of the total incoming funds”. (PBS) It just means that they have to pay greater attention to what the U.S and their other suppliers say, especially with that much money coming in. Also, with youth unemployment around 25%  ( The Economist) and the little outsourced jobs tricking in ( and not very well paying ones at that) ; it just means that there is greater competition between those looking for and that have jobs and tension can even come between family members (mainly youth versus adult). As Ahemd El Sayed El Nagar also said “The young population of the middle, educated class is made up of liberal arts graduates and is unable to earn a decent living. So they become a burden on their families, who have to support them since we do not have unemployment benefits.” (PBS) Although it is sad, it is true. Families have to take care of educated youth that should have but can't get jobs. ... Shocking             

                                                                     Works Cited

"News." Egyptian Schools Are Raising English Language Standards, Says Cambridge ESOL. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.cambridgeesol.org/about/news/2011/esol-egyptian-schools.html>.

PBS. PBS. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/egypt804/interview/extended2.html>.

"CIA- The World Factbook." Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html>.

The Economist. The Economist Newspaper. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/02/youth_unemployment>.