Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/19/2010 -- Hackett Group, a sourcing advisory firm, has predicted that outsourcing is going to cost America 1.3 million job losses by 2014.

The main sectors which will see most of the job losses are information technology, finance, and other back office functions which are increasingly being outsourced offshore. The group predicts that 1.1 million such jobs have already been eliminated in the country since 2008.Hackett calculates that IT has been especially hard hit by offshore outsourcing but the trend is now starting to level off. Next in line for the outsourcing wave is the finance sector. Corporate finance jobs are expected to be lost at a compound yearly rate of 20 percent.

Hackett Group’s advice for the professionals to be affected is that people in finance and IT should upgrade their skills to get into management positions. These management positions will be ones where they are responsible for globally spread out, multicultural teams. The other in demand skills will be in CRM (customer relationship management) and service level management.

Reacting to this report, CEO A. Harrison Barnes of Hound says “People need to constantly upgrade their skills. They need to make sure that they are in companies and positions where their work cannot be easily outsourced. Start thinking long-term with respect to outsourcing right now.” Hound has been able to find over 60,000 jobs in information technology and over 25,000 jobs in the finance sector.