Outsourcing: What's Next?
| posted by Fast Company staffWe've heard a lot about American companies farming out programming, call center or back-office work to India. But we may be less aware of the offshoring of other jobs -- such as clergymen and soldiers.
With Roman Catholic clergy in short supply in the United States, Indian priests are picking up some of their work. American, as well as Canadian and European churches are sending Mass intentions, or requests for services like those to remember deceased relatives and thanksgiving prayers, to clergy in India. Offshoring, amen.
Also being outsourced is soldiering. The United States is contracting with India, as well as other countries, to pick up arms and defend American interests in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and elsewhere. These hired soldiers used to be called mercenaries, but now they are called contractors.
It's not known how many priest or soldier jobs have been farmed out, but it's important to make a distinction between the impact of these types of outsourcing and that of offshoring technology jobs. In the case of church services, there is actually no loss of American jobs, because there were not enough U.S. priests to offer the services in the first place. Indian clergymen have just come in to fill the gap between the supply and the demand.
As for outsourcing soldiering, well, Americans should be less unhappy about that than about losing high-tech jobs to India. Though it may sound cynical, nobody loves running the risk of losing his/her life by being a mercenary.
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Recent Comments | 5 Total
June 28, 2004 at 10:36pm
Kathryn AlexanderI agree it's nice to have other people die for our country other than us, but as the prision scandle shows these contractor folks may not be very controlable. I don't think we need to worry about defending ourselves or about having access to those skills as we have enough money to pay someone, if we need them. besides it's much easier to get around the Geneva Conventions if the contractors aren't really under out control anyway. All-in-all it seems like a lose win situation. we lose and they win.
June 29, 2004 at 1:13pm
andreaWhether a contractor is working for you locally or off-shore, you must always be concerned of his/her loyalty to your company's vision. The contractor usually has his/her own agenda. Therefore, their are times to farmout jobs, and times to keep the work inside.
June 29, 2004 at 9:39pm
mwhat are we gonna outsource next? the president..well that might not be such a bad idea.
no offense, but the kind folks over there in india (or wherever) do not know what is important to me as a frequent flyer or a visa cardholder. so my next step is to find some company, ANY COMPANY that has a staff that recognizes my needs and i am willing to pay a little more for that (and clear english). i am willing to pay extra to have a company that believes in the american talent pool. after all, in a few years these are the same kids that are gonna have to stay home many years past the "get on your feet" stage. but as usual, we are looking for a quick fix. so to all those outsourcers, just remember that you are also outsourcing the future of generations to come.
July 1, 2004 at 11:38am
iProceed(1) It is obvious that many of us still seem to use 'outsourcing' and 'offshoring' interchangeably.
(2) As a strategy consultant, it continues to shock me that companies have been outsourcing (not offshoring) customer service for decades now. I continue to emphasize that you don't exist for too long if your customers don't value what you do for them. And if you let employees of any other company serve your customers, you have a serious problem. However, looks like many companies don't care about their customers.
(3) While reader M be an exception, it seems that most Americans value lower price over better service. Study after study shows that we do not value "Made in USA" even if the price difference is only pennies. We always want the highest value. We are so selfish that we do not realize that when we are looking at higher value for us, it might also mean higher value for a non-American in a different sense and lower value for a fellow American.
(4) We also have to remember that we cannot preach the message of free markets and capitalism and then start criticizing when our corporations go find the cheapest resources (both human and material). If we strongly believe that the world will be a better place with free markets and we might even use force to open markets, then we have to learn to live with the consequences.
(5) Our financial markets and we American consumers put too much pressure on corporations to produce higher sales and profits. That is why almost every company is under tremendous pressure to cut costs. White collar professionals like us did not cry when all the blue-collar jobs were offshored. In fact some of us even facilitated those so that we could pocket huge bonuses for ourselves.
(6) As a free-market economy, we have traditionally not valued the role of government. But precisely now, we need the government to play a role in helping train our workforce and provide better education to Americans. How many of us are ready as taxpayers to say that all education should be totally free in the United States so that we can raise well educated Americans who are capable of competing on a global basis? Do not forget that education in many countries in Asia is literally free and while we have one of the best education systems in the world, it is unaffordable for millions of Americans.
Jay at http://www.iproceed.com
iProceed: Shortest path to strategic growth
October 27, 2006 at 4:40am
mohammad alii state that every company will be lacking in one point so to full fill that point they can't work with their own team so they think of outsourcing teh job to the perfect company who can look of their job and cut the cost of project. as outsourceB2B which is a start up company with a brand name coming up with new products and services for the whole B2B industries and i think every company and every individual shoudl think again of OUTSOURCEB2B !!!!!
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