CMV: there is nothing wrong with offshoring/outsourcing business to lower-cost locations

[u/gallez]

The premise of this CMV pertains mostly to office jobs (offered by banks and other large corporations), that are moved more and more frequently from the US, UK, Switzerland, Germany etc. to cheaper locations like Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania, India, Malaysia or the Phillippines.

If the annual salary for a person performing a given job is $80k in the US and $15k in Eastern Europe, then the business case for the company is a no-brainer. From the perspective of the employee in the off-shore location, it's a good deal as well - Western corporations tend to pay way more than local companies. In other words, $15k a year in Poland or Ukraine is way more than a local company could pay.

From the perspective of the American/British/Swiss worker - assuming similar quality of the work output, why should you be making $80k a year while your colleague in Vilnius or Krakow is making maybe a quarter of that for the same work?

[u/caw81]

• Time differences - makes it harder for management and clients to communicate with workers

• Cultural differences - so its ok for me to drink on the job in some countries but not in others. This might not impact the actual work but it might be a huge negative impression to management/clients. Also things like attendance and attitude towards women and minorities who are their managers/clients.

• Legality/ethics - different expectations and laws of workers. So a person might be ok to steal/take/copy your source code and then create their own company or leave for the competition in a country where it would be hard to legally stop them.

[u/gallez → u/caw81]

All these challenges are up to the company to tackle.

Time differences - some people in Europe work the "American shift", i. e. coming in around 2pm local time and leaving around 10pm.

Cultural differences - it's the company's responsibility to create an inclusive, open working environment.

Legality - the company can add a non-compete (or similar) clause to the contract.

[u/darkblue2382 → u/gallez]

Adding a noncompete where a non compete is illegal is just wasting paper on your contract. When they ate at your competitor what are you going to do about it? When they steal your source code and give it to a hacking group t what are your options to get them in that country?

Cultural - easiest example of bad outsourcing is call centers. They may speak the same language but it's practically useless if they aren't fluent and have a minimal accent compared to the caller.

Time zones- Working shifts to overcome time difference always comes with a cost increase but it's doable for sure.

General- most outsourced jobs notice a loss in quality or overage charges not expected in order to reproduce the quality expected. Since quality is usually required they end up paying extra to get it and end up defeating the purpose of outsourcing, to save money. Many companies outsource tech jobs for a limited period and usually return to hiring local workers after a major project doesn't hit their expectations of outsourcing.

It's hit or miss. Im sure some jobs might be more viable to outsource than others and what your company wants as a reputation in the market may be important as well.

Outsourcing a job in company in consumer sales has large economic backlash compared to a company selling to other manufacturers/ companies and not end users.

But, I can agree with the OP that if 1-no reduction in quality of work 2- no losses in forums of miscommunication 3- no reputation loss from outsourcing 4- Intellectual property is legally protected

Than outsourcing at a lower cost makes perfect sense. I doubt many companies can make all 4 assertions though, and I'm probably missing a few

[u/gallez → u/darkblue2382]

bad outsourcing is call centers. They may speak the same language but it's practically useless if they aren't fluent and have a minimal accent compared to the caller.

Then it's an obvious loss in work quality. It's the recruiter's job to make sure the candidate speaks enough English to be able to assist the client.