Grove: Competitive Crisis Looms In U.S.

The chairman of Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) says that the United States is facing a competitive crisis that puts the country is danger of losing its lead as the world's most innovative technology provider.

"I'm here to be the skunk at your garden party," Grove told a group of about 150 beltway types gathered here for the Global Tech Forum, hosted by lobbying group Business Software Alliance.

Why is the U.S. waning? Grove says it's because of offshore outsourcing, lack of federal support of sciences education and a "ho-hum" telecommunications infrastructure. "We've lost more than 500,000 tech jobs in the last two years to foreign competitors."

Indeed, many U.S.-based companies are either thinking about or have already sent white-collar jobs outside the country. Companies can often cut costs and boost productivity dramatically by hiring skilled labor in India and other countries. Much of that work lately has involved software development and professional services.