I wouldn't be so sure. Many overseas contractors I've worked with lack communication skills that Americans have. Whether it's due to cultural differences, native language, or something else. And these gaps can waste a lot of time.

Totally true. They're already being replaced domestically by cheaper labor coming here from overseas. Imagine if there wasn't all that paperwork involved and their hiring pool gets larger at the same time.

I've seen that happen several times already and I'd say you are usually wrong.

I mean yes, you absolutely can hire much cheaper devs, sure, but I've witnessed the fallout from them not being good at their jobs which then mandated bringing me and several other senior devs onboard so we can fix the mess and get the project back on track.

So can companies utilize the global market and hire cheaper devs? Yes. Is that usually risky? Also yes.

(Exceptions exist of course, e.g. Eastern European devs are usually high quality and are happy with 2X, if not even 3X-4X, less payment than the American ones.)

yeah - been thru that once..twice..wait 3 times... lets see: india, china, russia...

And yet, all the developers I know actually managed to stay employed/get jobs/etc.

The world is full of doom-sayers...and someday they'll be right. I just don't think thats day is today :-)

Aren't there some restrictions regarding what can be outsourced to foreign countries?

This is called progress. There will always be a market for high-end expertise.