The range of activities being outsourced from USA to countries like India is no longer a passing trend. It is an increasingly viable option being taken by more and more public and private organizations, with even the little jump start-ups hopping on to the outsourcing bandwagon, eager to make a quick buck. This leaves a question hanging in the air, whether, it is just the cost factor driving US companies to outsource, just almost everything that can be outsourced. However, A.T. Kearney in its Making Offshore Decisions says: “…labour arbitrage is far from the only factor in the decision to outsource. Companies cite greater productivity, improved service and superior technical skills as other reasons to move operations offshore.
While, the US Department of Commerce quotes the value of US exports of legal work, computer programming, telecommunications, banking, engineering, management consulting, and other private services jumping to $131.01-billion in 2003, up $8.42 billion from 2002, imports of services, a category that encompasses US outsourcing of call centres and data entry, hit $77.38-billion for the year, up $7.94 billion from 2002.
That was in 2002 and 2003, but now USA’s outsourcing market has become much larger, and is growing by leaps and bounds. Clearly, it is more than evident that the Americans are off-shoring / outsourcing everything that can be, as the success of off-shored projects, coupled with all kinks being ironed out, and a smooth relationship developed with off-shore service providers, the smooth delivery of future projects is ensured. The comfort zone American firms have found in the outsourcing market confirms Information Technology Services (Computer and Related Services), Business Process Outsourcing (Customer Interaction Services, Back-Office Operations, More Independent Professional or Business Services) outsourcing segment will continue to outperform, and grow yearly by 8% in 2007.
Moreover, as a result of the global outsourcing trend, Gartner predicts that up to 25% of traditional IT jobs in many developed countries, including USA will be situated in emerging markets by the year 2010. “Analysts predict that as many as 2 million US white-collar jobs, such as programmers, software engineers and application designers will shift to low-cost centres by 2014.” That even as, a Forrester Research report predicts: “...at least 3.3-million white-collar jobs and $136-billion in wages will shift from the United States to low cost countries by 2015. In the past 3-years, off-shore programming jobs have nearly tripled, from 27,000 to an estimated 80,000.”
Already, 40% if not more of America’s Fortune 500 firms have outsourced / off-shored to countries like India, according to research firm, Gartner Inc. This is, because the pros and cons of off-shoring / outsourcing have finally been understood, and the cons can be avoided as pros far outbalance the cons, pros such as:
- Competition.
- Productivity.
- Improves local knowledge and access to local markets.
- Access to and availability of skilled human resources.
According to Hackett-Group, a strategic advisory firm, Fortune 500 companies could potentially save $58-billion annually, or some $116-million per company, by off-shoring general and administrative jobs. The study estimates that increased use of cheaper overseas labour could affect up to 1.47-million back-office jobs over the next decade, or nearly 3,000 at a typical Fortune 500 company. And, the jobs under review will go far beyond call centres.
“People have become more confident in the analytical capabilities of the overseas staff, and that is expanding the profile of the kinds of jobs that are under consideration,” Wayne Mincey, President of the Hackett Group confided in Reuters from Atlanta, USA.
Some of the jobs that can now more readily be shipped overseas than they could several years ago include those in information technology, finance, human resources and procurement.
The Hackett study stresses the education base and skill set, and with it the potential savings on labour costs, are on the rise in India, and other emerging countries. Sending certain jobs off-shore results in typical savings in salaries of about 70% compared to savings of 10 to 20% by moving jobs to lower-cost US locations, according to Mincey. “Executives have to take a much closer look because the savings are so large it becomes a competitive issue,” he added. The Hackett study suggests that many companies are relying on outdated analysis to assess the benefits of outsourcing and risk "under-scoping" such initiatives. But, once they get up to speed, it could be: “Katie bar the (office) door.”
And, as the classrooms of America’s higher education institutions feature the world, with Indians leading, and only a small scattering of Americans, the lack of requisite skills is telling across the length and breadth of America. With firms unable to find employees with the required skill set, the only way out is to off-shore / outsource to countries like India, with not only sufficient human resources, but resources that have the right set of skills. Annually, churning out millions of graduates in almost every field, it has a steady supply of skilled human resources to meet American shortfall.
The allure of off-shoring / outsourcing that promises a gleam of money in the fist, has fast caught the fancy of America’s business industry, and its ensuing success is seeing a wide gamut of services from IT, retail, manufacturing, pharmacy, engineering, finance, HR, R&D, legal services, etc. being off-shored / outsourced. As the baby boomers retire or reach retirement age, an aging population means that American will not be able to function without off-shoring / outsourcing.
So much so, Reuter’s financial news agency has announced its decision to outsource journalism jobs. It plans to hire journalists in India to report on 3,000 small to mid-sized companies in the States, in order to free up Western journalists for value-added work, such as, interviewing.
This article is sponsored by www.offshoreoutsourcingworld.com
没有评论:
发表评论