Capot there is no passing on of responsibility. The person issuing the release to service is responsible for the work covered by that release...............FULL STOP
Most management do not give the slightest thought to what could go wrong or the consequences being more interested in budgets. There are consequences to cutting budgets in all walks of life.
Licensed engineers are more expensive than unlicensed engineers due to their training and experience. However should we ever move to a cheaper situation where there is no longer any licence (saving cost of that training and experience), the only thing that changes in terms of responsibility is that a lower paid unlicensed person will be held responsible.
The article is reality even if it does mix issues somewhat. A really good example of the consequences of outsourcing (budget cutting) is the following real life event;
MRO management applying pressure to engineers not to document significant cracks as the repair was not part of the contract and the airline didn't want them fixed. The MRO didn't want to lose favour with the airline. Hats off to the engineers who promptly documented the cracks. The consequences of their actions resulted in them going to court because the MRO wasn't happy. So much for safety being paramount.
Sending airline staff is often about as useful as a trap door in a canoe as they are often part of the problem. The brief is simple, make sure the aircraft leaves maintenance on time with no additional costs.
In addition there is the issue of occurrence reporting. Do you seriously believe that there is an open reporting culture in some of the countries where outsourcing is growing?
Therefore I really fail to understand the logic of posters trying to imply everything is fine. In many cases it isn't. I am also not against outsourcing if done properly. I agree we shouldn't be scaremongering but we should be prepared to tell the truth.
If it is fine where you are be extremely happy but don't damage the chances of somebody elsewhere improving their lot. Ultimately we are only as safe as the weakest link.
The ultimate fact though is that all too often cost is paramount and safety comes at best, second.