Supply chain jobs continue to be a safer bet offshore: expert

The Australian Government should not support industries that are already in decline, as structural changes in the global workforce mean that once highly-skilled jobs can now be carried out by cheap labour offshore, according to a leading Australian economist.

"All the jobs that are related to supply chain are changing and moving in a global sense, and of course they're concentrating now in China, so independent of the exchange rate Australian manufacturers were in decline anyway," University of Newcastle economist Bill Mitchell said.

"I don't see the role of governments as being to provide welfare benefits to companies to keep them producing high-cost output just to save a small number of jobs," he said.

"That's not to say saving jobs isn't incredibly important, but it's a diminishing return."

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