Outsourcing
Punishing the baddies is only fun in the movies. In real life it’s messy, expensive, and fraught with guilt and danger. So why not outsource it?
Almost anything can be outsourced. Forget the IT department in Bangalore – companies can outsource engineering or software development. Individuals can outsource breasfeeding or shirt ironing or dog walking or shoe stretching.
People also, although they may not realise it, outsource punishment.
Continue reading "Need someone to do your dirty work? Try God." »
I reckon the Internet has turned the average person into an outsourcer and even “offshorer”. A shirt made here, self-designed wedding invitations printed there – too easy.
In fact, I sometimes find that the same person who rants about jobs going offshore tells you with glee how they got something made cheaply overseas.
I have mixed feelings about outsourcing. Moving jobs to Australia’s regional cities = good; improving standards of living in developing nations = good; Australians losing their jobs = bad; workers exploited here or anywhere = bad.
Continue reading "The only problem with outsourcing: We don’t get it" »
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RyaN says:
Fact is that you pay import duties on items manufactured overseas. The items value is based on raw materials and work hours. The same should apply to imported work hours, a company who outsources should have to make a declaration much the same as tax (and can be investigated) where… Read more »
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Sharkjumper says:
Before you assume that outsourcing is purely a response to the high cost of labour in Australia, please consider the following. Outsourcing is often an easy/lazy way of compensating for poor onshore products. I worked for what was once one of Australia’s largest telcos and watched as a series of… Read more »
“There Is No Alternative” was a favourite line of Margaret Thatcher’s whenever she was trying to push one of her ideas on to the public.
The “TINA” philosophy has become part of the armoury of governments, big corporations, and others who want to convince us that we are naïve, ill-informed or stupid when we try and question the wisdom of their decisions.
Qantas is the latest example of a major company trying to convince us that There Is No Alternative to its plans to shift its operations offshore, and to cut about 1000 jobs here in Australia.
Continue reading "The flying kangaroo need not be a flying panda" »
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Andrew says:
Ged your comments also sound pretty hypocritical given the government has just dropped a bomb of money to help BlueScope steel employees, also another privately owned Australian business. Why aren’t you calling for support for Qantas employees instead of whinging about managements decision to restructure. Would you prefer 1000 employees… Read more »
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acotrel says:
@Dovif The free market was introduced into Australia by Hawke, Keating, Hewson and Howard. How is Kevin Rudd to blame? All he did was continue the process of removing barriers to trade, when he allowed foreign airlines access into Australian airports. I suggest you are fixated on an ideology, and… Read more »
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