I would definitely like to hear from IT professionals across the pond on this one. When someone tells me that the major driver for Global Offshoring is the lack of talent in the UK and EU rather than cost reduction, I think I have to call BS! The major driver right now and in the past has been one simple thing, corporations taking advantage of the lower labor costs associated with developing countries. One of the things I hear frequently from pro offshore groups is that outsourcing/offshoring allows a company to free up its technical staff from having to do boring, repetitive tasks, thus improving their morale. Let me tell you what really happens when existing staff hears outsourcing or offshoring rumors, a cold chill runs down their spine because they know what that means! Yes, their jobs are at risk in a very real way.
Now let’s not be naive, offshoring is not going to be regulated away. The financial incentive is just too great for companies to resist. What happens if company A decides not to outsource, but their competitor Company B does outource. Well, lacking any unusual circumstances, Company B is now going to be able to offer their product or service at a lower price than Company A. Company A really only has a couple of choices at this point. They can either offshore their work in order to compete or come up with some sort of innovative solution onshore that keeps them in the game. So, lets stop using the euphemisms like Global Staffing in place of Offshoring, stop telling me that outsourcing/offshoring will help onshore morale (it won’t). We are all adults here, bottom line…. don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining!
Before conceding aegrement with certian core aspects of the previous comment, allow me to assert that the post itself was by no means racist. In turn, condemning begins to reveal a level of a misplaced level of sensitivity (who’s paranoid now???) about such things. So disregarding that element of Reality s contribution, I’ll proceed.The elemental free-market premise captured in the comment’s second paragraph is right on, and for my money the situation and the story itself go no further. That, Reality, is the reality. Good call.But then the comment really fell off the rails. The nonsense about reaping what you sow American’s being pampered etc., is both bitter and biased.Apparently working FAR more hours, and retiring at more advanced ages than any other nation in the developed world equates to being pampered? Further the comment only sees fit to focus only on the export dimension of our global trade dynamics which tees up the balance of what becomes a basically anti-American rant. For the majority of the past three decades the US has had a trade imbalance; we consistently import more than we export. In turn we inject more capital into foreign markets then we derive from same. Leaving this fact not theory out of the opinion part of the comment was unfortunate, but presumably necessary to beat up the U.S.By now I’ve already acknowledged the previous comment more than it ultimately deserves, so I’ll move on & wrap up.Basically, any business (American, Icelandic, or Vietnamese) has a constant obligation to manage/reduce overhead to some proper balance point at which efficiency is maximized. That’s basic, Adam Smith, 101 level econ. Like it or not, that’s what this the outsourcing phenomnon is about. My sense is that the POV of this blog is that American businesses should embrace & honor an additional obligation; to not abandon the American worker.Without commenting on the merits of that position, we should all agree that it’s this or any bloggers perogative to throw such thoughts out there. Good luck.
Brenda,
Thanks for your insightfulness. The main purpose of my blog is to highlight the fact that we are going through a time of disruptive change and I think that too many of those impacted by the change believe that the consequences are something that can be regulated away. I believe that the symptoms of globalism cannot be regulated away, but that if we think outside the box, we can at least smooth the road until some sort of equilibrium is achieved. This blog just gives me an outlet for my thoughts on the matter (although I do need to dedicate more time to it). To be clear, I am not advocating protectionism, nor attempting to demonize any peoples benefiting from outsourcing engagements. In fact any current beneficiary of the outsourcing/offshoring trends can quickly end up on the wrong side of the transaction as new players enter the game. In closing, I hope to have more content up soon and hope that bot you and Clauu continue to read and participate in the discussion.