By Derek Stewart
"Offshoring" is a loaded word and controversial topic. To some it means corporate greed gone rampant, lost jobs, destroyed industries, wider economic and societal problems. To others it means embracing a globalised economy, uniquely benefitting developing nations by giving them a real chance to rise out of poverty, redistributing the wealth of the world and lower priced goods and services, for a win-win situation.
There is the often told story of someone losing their job because it was offshored or outsourced, but there's the less publicised story of the new jobs created by offshoring. Every story has two sides, the rise of technology and automation has caused the loss of many jobs and ended long standing industries ever since the Industrial Revolution. However, it has also created jobs that never existed before, in researching, developing, implementing and improving that same technology and automation, creating industries that never existed until recently like mobile app development or SEO specialists.
This is why when I hear about jobs being lost in Australia to offshoring hubs such as the Philippines, I also look to the jobs that are being created by this change, and how this will affect Australian employees over the next 5-10 years. I see it as a reflection of the dynamic world we live in, where the only constant is change, and the shifts in the skills required in the marketplace are evolving in front of our eyes, faster than ever before. It also highlights to me the importance of being adaptable and forward looking, you can't predict every change, you can only make yourself flexible and agile, knowing the changes will inevitably come, and handling them as they do.
I landed a job in Manila, Philippines with an Australian company helping Australian SMEs set up their back offices in the Philippines. Prior to arriving I had no idea how large an industry this was, with nearly 1,000,000 Filipinos working for foreign companies. The growth is only continuing, with most of the industry made up of American and European companies, Australia still has not reached the same penetration. Being in the industry and on the ground floor where it is all happening is mind blowing. There's a feeling in the air that a tipping point and boom for Australian firms offshoring is imminently approaching.
People unfamiliar with the offshoring, insourcing, outsourcing, BPO industries are shocked when they visit Manila and find the huge talent pool of skilled, university graduates with excellent English speaking and technical skills, for 20% of the cost of Australian staff. That's not even starting with the savings on office space, fitouts, super, payroll tax, compliance and support services compared between the two countries. They see how developed the CBDs are in Manila, the Grade-A office facilities and infrastructure. Stereotypes of sweatshops and cheap labour being low quality labour are evaporated when they see the work output generated, as well as the dramatically lower cost of living in the Philippines.
This knowledge can be a scary thought for people in Australia. This means in the future a lot of companies will not hire entry level workers for routine tasks in Australia, or hire all their staff in Australia simply because their clients or CEO is in Australia. Regardless of company size, people are looking globally to see where it makes the most sense to hire staff. Where is the best place to have your sales staff? What about your developers? What about your accounting department? What about your customer service? The answer is likely not all in the same country, even for SMEs. If you could access staff at 20% of Australian wages, what possibilities for new services, improved turnaround time, 24/7 operations and support staff could also be possible for Australian businesses?
To read full story visit this link theoutsourcing-guide.com/article/offshored-philippines/
"Offshoring" is a loaded word and controversial topic. To some it means corporate greed gone rampant, lost jobs, destroyed industries, wider economic and societal problems. To others it means embracing a globalised economy, uniquely benefitting developing nations by giving them a real chance to rise out of poverty, redistributing the wealth of the world and lower priced goods and services, for a win-win situation.
There is the often told story of someone losing their job because it was offshored or outsourced, but there's the less publicised story of the new jobs created by offshoring. Every story has two sides, the rise of technology and automation has caused the loss of many jobs and ended long standing industries ever since the Industrial Revolution. However, it has also created jobs that never existed before, in researching, developing, implementing and improving that same technology and automation, creating industries that never existed until recently like mobile app development or SEO specialists.
This is why when I hear about jobs being lost in Australia to offshoring hubs such as the Philippines, I also look to the jobs that are being created by this change, and how this will affect Australian employees over the next 5-10 years. I see it as a reflection of the dynamic world we live in, where the only constant is change, and the shifts in the skills required in the marketplace are evolving in front of our eyes, faster than ever before. It also highlights to me the importance of being adaptable and forward looking, you can't predict every change, you can only make yourself flexible and agile, knowing the changes will inevitably come, and handling them as they do.
I landed a job in Manila, Philippines with an Australian company helping Australian SMEs set up their back offices in the Philippines. Prior to arriving I had no idea how large an industry this was, with nearly 1,000,000 Filipinos working for foreign companies. The growth is only continuing, with most of the industry made up of American and European companies, Australia still has not reached the same penetration. Being in the industry and on the ground floor where it is all happening is mind blowing. There's a feeling in the air that a tipping point and boom for Australian firms offshoring is imminently approaching.
People unfamiliar with the offshoring, insourcing, outsourcing, BPO industries are shocked when they visit Manila and find the huge talent pool of skilled, university graduates with excellent English speaking and technical skills, for 20% of the cost of Australian staff. That's not even starting with the savings on office space, fitouts, super, payroll tax, compliance and support services compared between the two countries. They see how developed the CBDs are in Manila, the Grade-A office facilities and infrastructure. Stereotypes of sweatshops and cheap labour being low quality labour are evaporated when they see the work output generated, as well as the dramatically lower cost of living in the Philippines.
This knowledge can be a scary thought for people in Australia. This means in the future a lot of companies will not hire entry level workers for routine tasks in Australia, or hire all their staff in Australia simply because their clients or CEO is in Australia. Regardless of company size, people are looking globally to see where it makes the most sense to hire staff. Where is the best place to have your sales staff? What about your developers? What about your accounting department? What about your customer service? The answer is likely not all in the same country, even for SMEs. If you could access staff at 20% of Australian wages, what possibilities for new services, improved turnaround time, 24/7 operations and support staff could also be possible for Australian businesses?
To read full story visit this link theoutsourcing-guide.com/article/offshored-philippines/
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