About half the jobs that are being outsourced by Silicon Valley companies are going to India, according to a survey released in the US.

More than 53 per cent of Silicon Valley companies surveyed in September reported that they outsource a portion, or all, of their operations, according to the survey by Santa Clara University.

And India is benefitting the most with roughly half of the jobs winding up there, CNET News.com reported.

Outsourcing and India

"India has an educated work force, and its people speak English, so it makes it an attractive place for outsourcing," said Mario Belotti, an economics professor at the University.

Other Asian nations were reported to be trailing in the jobs race, with China accounting for 8 per cent of the outsourced jobs.

The survey has tracked outsourcing by regional companies over the last three years, and registered a slight decline in the number of companies taking jobs out of Silicon Valley last month.

While outsourcing remains a large component of how businesses operate in Silicon Valley, manufacturing has seen a notable decline, Belotti said.

The percentage of firms reporting "no outsourcing done in the last quarter" has increased in the manufacturing sector, from 51.1 per cent in 2003 to 60.7per cent in this year's survey.

"Much of this drop was in the semiconductor and electronics area," Belotti said.

In August, the region posted a 7 per cent year-over-year increase in computing and electronics manufacturing jobs.