SC ranked #1 in percentage of workforce employed by international firms

South Carolina’s Challenge: To Remain Competitive for International Companies

Washington, DC — September 27, 2006 — With 121,700 South Carolinians working for U.S. subsidiaries of companies headquartered abroad, South Carolina ranks 16th in the nation in terms of the total number of “insourced” jobs. The Organization for International Investment (OFII) today released new Commerce Department statistics, which show that insourced jobs continue to be an integral part of the U.S. economy.

While insourcing companies have been strong and steady employers in South Carolina over the last decade, the international competition for investment is becoming more intense. Over the last one-year period, insourcing employment in South Carolina fell by 5,100.

“These new data show that South Carolina can’t assume global companies will always continue to invest and employ people in the state,” said Todd Malan, President and CEO of OFII, a Washington, DC-based business group representing U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies. “The challenge for policymakers is to ensure the state remains a competitive location for investment.”

South Carolina “Insourcing” Job Facts

• South Carolina ranks 16th in the nation in terms of the number of workers employed by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign firms, with a total of 121,700 – providing the livelihood for almost 8 percent of South Carolina’s private-sector workforce;
• South Carolina ranks 1st in the country in the share of its workforce supported by U.S. subsidiaries;
• Overall, nearly 50 percent of the insourced jobs in South Carolina are in the manufacturing sector, totaling 60,700 employees;
• Insourcing companies in South Carolina include: DaimlerChrysler, Electrolux, Food Lion, Fuji Photo Film Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Michelin, Nestlé USA, Inc., Oldcastle Inc., Rexam, Roche, Saint Gobain, Siemens and Sodexho.

Visit www.ofii.org for state specific information on “insourcing” and the overall economic impact of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies.