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Wednesday, May 5, 2004

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Outsourcing roundup

Some odds & ends on outsourcing:

1) For the most recent spate of reporting on the phenomenon, you could do far worse than what's been written by the Portland Press Herald's Edward Murphy or Fortune's Jeremy Kahn. The first article looks at the effect that offshore outsourcing is having on medical transcription. The latter looks at how offshore outsourcing is affecting small businesses. Both are complex tales, but there's a familiar pattern -- the jobs being outsourced are the ones that could also disappear through automation.

2) I received an illuminating e-mail from a call center manager at America Online's Arizona facility:

I'm not sure what all the hand wringing is about, but anybody who is worried about job losses should come talk to our Tucson job recruiter -- she can't find enough people to fill the jobs we have. We are hiring big time!

As far as jobs lost, well it's true, America Online sent about 1200 jobs to Bangalore, India, but the net result means our own employees no longer have to work graveyard shifts. Thus, their quality of life is improved because they can spend more time with their families, and single parents don't have to sweat finding day care for an 11pm to 7am shift anymore. We haven't closed a single call center in the US, and there are PLENTY of jobs available at any of our call centers in Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Florida. My own employees earn between $40,000 to $60,000....not a bad wage for Tucson, Arizona let me tell you.

posted by Dan on 05.05.04 at 11:40 AM

Comments:

but the net result means our own employees no longer have to work graveyard shifts. Thus, their quality of life is improved because they can spend more time with their families,

I've never heard a more pleasing whitewash of the notion of being unemployed in my life.

My own employees earn between $40,000 to $60,000

If that's true, and I doubt it, then they're probably the next batch of workers to be offshored -- because they're grossly overpaid. $60,000/yr to be an inept AOL tech support monkey? Heck, I make about that. Guess I'd better dumb down my resume and move to Tuscon. Hope for their sakes that AOL brass doesn't read Dan's blog.

posted by: Keith Tyler on 05.05.04 at 11:40 AM [permalink]

"PLENTY of jobs available at any of our call centers in Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Florida. My own employees earn between $40,000 to $60,000....not a bad wage for Tucson, Arizona let me tell you."

Oh, please. I'm so sick of the globalization lies that constantly stream from those arrogant types who happen to still have jobs and like pretending that those who haven't are lazy, stupid or just not trying. I'm near an AOL call center here in NM and the wage is $8.50 / hr (typical). Now I don't know how many hours per year that guy works HIS people to get them up to $60k / yr, but I suppose that's a job that won't go overseas because you can't get Indians to work, (uh let me calculate) roughly 7,000 hours per year @8.50 / hr to earn that $60k.

No wonder AOL's subscriber base is shrinking. All their call center staff is either unable to speak English or asleep.

posted by: paul cassel on 05.05.04 at 11:40 AM [permalink]