Reports that IBM will allow laid-off workers to apply for jobs that have been shifted to lower-cost countries are deeply concerning, according to a critical article on the website of the the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF). Workers made redundant as a result of offshoring can now apply for jobs in the country the work has shifted to - but with the reduced wage and conditions of the low-cost nation. According to online reports, the Project Match program offers laid-off US and Canadian workers the opportunity to move to nations like India, Brazil and China to work on local terms and conditions.

Employees who accepted the offer would need to work away from their home country on proportionally much lower wages, and would probably struggle to save enough to come home, according to Alliance@IBM, an organisation of the IMF - US affiliate CWA.  "If this trend spread to other sectors or industries it would even further undermine workers' ability to maintain wages and conditions," said the IMF's director for the ICT industry, Robert Steiert.

"Jobs should always be retained in the nation where they were first located instead of being sacrificed for the sake of company profit." Project Match and other offshoring issues will be discussed at a joint meeting between the IMF and global union federation UNI later this year.

A spokesman for Alliance@IBM slammed the program. "IBM is not only offshoring IBM U.S. jobs but they want employees to offshore themselves through Project Match," said the spokesman quoted in an article on InformationWeek.com. The same article quotes an IBM spokesman who said the program shouldn't be seen in that light. "It's more of a vehicle for people who want to expand their life experience by working somewhere else," said the spokesman. "A lot of people want to work in India."