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Holding your ground against the outsourcing wave

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Globalization has made it possible for people from different countries and cultures to successfully coexist and work together. Moreover, globalization has fueled the development of multinational companies and it has facilitated companies to expand their business to other countries. Then, due to the differences in the development of national economy, the next logical step was outsourcing a part of the labor to countries where this was less expensive to do.

However, outsourcing has turned out to be so financially efficient that it has become one of the central tactics of business development and cost-cutting. And while this model is immensely beneficial for corporations, it presents some significant drawbacks for employees. One particular issue that a large part of the workforce has recently encountered is being made obsolete by their outsourced equivalent.

In fact, in this day and age, it is absolutely crucial that people make sure that the jobs and careers they choose are outsource-resistant to avoid being laid off abruptly. And while a decade ago this was something mostly related to low-grade positions, in 2017 it has encompassed each and every field of work. In this article, we will tell you about the evolution of the outsourcing issue and we are going to provide advice on how to stay as resistant to its consequences.    

How Outsourcing Has Snowballed into a Monster

In the beginning, outsourcing was strictly related to manual labor and low-grade positions. One corporation after the other has moved its brute production from its headquarters country to other countries where this type of labor was exponentially cheaper. This enabled the corporation to increase its profits by reducing labor investments, and it has also brought employment opportunities to countries that were in dire need of them.

As such, outsourcing was applauded in all fields, which made it expand further and further into more and more production and employment environments. This helped the local economy of the countries where the jobs were outsourced to increase, as well as the expansion of the corporations who applied this tactic.  

As for the downside of the outsourcing movement, this remained related to the people whose jobs were suddenly made unavailable in their country. They were forced to seek employment in similar companies, then in similar job categories, up to the point where they had to change their professions and careers entirely, which caused an enormous amount of distress for them.

How the Internet Has Intensified the Snowball Effect

The countries where this large amount of labor was outsourced have experienced a significant economic boost, and a direct consequence of this was gaining access to the internet. In fact, the more the local economy improved, the more people had access to the World Wide Web. This was yet another pillar in the expansion of globalization, which has had a huge influence on the reach of the outsourcing tactic.

Initially, outsourcing was only linked to large businesses and long-term employment, but it quickly became linked to freelancers. And with internet access becoming available in more and more countries, outsourcing via freelancers simply exploded everywhere.

Nowadays, if you have to find bookkeeper assistance, for example, all you need to do is make a quick search on Upwork and you will have a lot of options from a lot of countries to choose from. Whether you choose the cheapest, the most efficient, or the proficient option depends on your budget, your project, and your expectations, but the offer is present and limitless.

How to Remain Untouched by the Wrath of Outsourcing

So, how do you stay outsource resistant in a world where there are people from many other countries offering the exact same services as you are? This applies to bookkeepers, designers, writers, teachers, programmers, and virtually any work field out there because whether it is done physically or via the internet, outsourcing your position is most probably possible.

As such, remaining entirely untouched by outsourcing in the long term is virtually impossible. However, there are some things you can make sure of in regards to your job that will keep you safe for a very long time. If you are now choosing your employment path, opting for outsource-resistant jobs is your best path for the years to come.

Jobs involving personal contact with customers, patients, or partners cannot be moved to another country, which makes them ideal for the age of outsourcing. But if your job does not entail direct contact with anybody, your best option is to gain as much experience in your field as you can and to grow in rank because specialists have a smaller chance of getting outsourced.

Studying your outsourced competition can give you valuable information about whether or not you are in danger. As such, it is very much in your interest to find out if companies similar to the one you work with have outsourced the position you currently have.

Moreover, if you have opted for a job that can be done by freelancers, it is absolutely essential that you are constantly aware of the type of services they offer. You must always remain one step ahead of them in terms of work quality because this will make you invaluable to your employer or client. Find out exactly how you are more relevant for the position than a freelancer and work on enhancing these traits and making them as visible as possible.

To conclude, globalization has made employment outsourcing possible and it has facilitated its growth up to the point where it has encompassed the vast majority of work fields. Opting for a career that has a low chance of being moved to another country is now an essential criterion that young minds must take into consideration because there is no end in sight for the development of outsourcing.  

Author Profile Picture
Philip Piletic

Blogger, writer and editor

Read more from Philip Piletic
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