As today's ZDNet Asia makes clear, the economic slowdown and its effect on outsourcing in the financial segment, has crossed the Atlantic and is lowering the overall deal flow in Europe, too. While this is not surprising, it is indicative of the way that the effect of the slowdown has been felt across the world.

Whether this effect is long-lasting remains to be seen, but there are signs that cause concern for this author. In many economies, governments are taking equity positions in financial institutions as a way of shoring up their capital structure. These same governmental institutions serve a broad variety of interests, and may be looking to reset the management focus from pure shareholder value to more of a stakeholder value approach.

With such an approach, job creation and stability may become a priority - and opponents of offshoring may find new allies in the corporate boardroom.