Outsourcing
(Sorry to everyone about not posting in a long time, but summer has kept me off the computer. I will be back blogging more often, now that fall is here....)
Lots and lots of news these days on Outsouring US jobs to India, China, Philippines and other countries. There is a great book: The World is Flat that describes how more and more jobs get outsourced each day due to globalization. For Example: You bring your tax return to HR Block thinking that some Accountant in their office will do your tax return for $150. Wrong. They scan all your paperwork in and ship it off electronically to India, where an accountant trained in US tax laws does your return. The reason? In India, the accountant does it for a couple bucks and hour vs. fifty bucks an hour in the US.
There are many other jobs that get outsourced, assembly line jobs, technical support jobs, etc... Basically, anything that can be done competently by someone in another country is getting outsourced, all in the name of productivity and cost savings.
So, I was thinking about this recently and was wondering when all this outsourcing will benefit me??? HR Block's use of offshore accountants helps them make money. How can I take advantage of all this outsourcing....Hmmmmm.
Top 5 things I am planning on outsourcing:
1. Technical Support to family members - Yes, I work in high tech - but my time is more valuable than to help Lisa, my wife, figure out how to download 32 pictures from some 4 year old's birthday party, put them on line and share them.
Or nothing worse than sitting down to watch the Red Sox on TV and hearing "The computer is not working, please come help". This is usually a quicker fix - after taking a quick look at the hung state - I reboot everything. But these 5 minutes away from game, usually end up in a David Ortiz walk off home run...
From now on, when any family member needs help with basic computing tasks - I will give them a 1-800 number that connects them to someone in India who will be much more willing to help than me and I will happily pay the support rep $3 per hour to help with these tasks.
2. Sunday night trash and Recycling duty: Whoever made trash pickup in my town on a Monday morning was not thinking straight. Sunday night should be spent relaxing - not running around the house collecting trash and filling up the recycling bins. I would like to outsource this task. Can't you see the help wanted ad in the local paper?
Job Opening: Sanitation Engineer - Looking for someone to come into my house every Sunday night to collect and separate trash/recycling items. No need to speak english. Basic knowledge of plastic, paper, glass, and aluminum required. Pay: 1$ per bag or bin. Bonus Plan- Keep any bottle deposit money from beer and soda cans. Please send resume if you have 5+ years experience.
3. Bedtime routine with kids: Ok, not all the time but occasionally it would be nice to outsouce the bath, brush teeth, comb hair, read books nightly routine. How great would it be after a really long day to hang out with a glass of wine, while a trained professional ran my kids through a hyper efficient bedtime routine. The trained professional could type up a status report of any problems and email it to me.
4. Filling up the car with gasoline: What a pain this can be. I am always running on E at the worst possible times, like stuck in traffic or late to a meeting. Getting off an exit, standing at the self serve gas pump and getting back on the highway can take 20 minutes per fill up. I probably fill up once every week, sometimes more. That adds up to a couple hours per month wasted standing at the Mobil station.
Imagine if a gas fill up service came to ME every time my gas tank dropped below 1/2 full. All I need is a signal sent from my car and GPS. Gas could be delivered from some mobile gas station truck thing. Maybe even do an oil change, fill up my ashtray with quarters (so I have tolls or parking meter currency), and fill up my Altoids tin.
5. I am keeping Outsourcing idea #5 to myself. It is too good an idea to let out into public and have someone steal it and make the cover of Business Week. If High Tech tanks again - I am starting up a business based on idea #5.
Let the real Outsourcing revolution begin!
Lots and lots of news these days on Outsouring US jobs to India, China, Philippines and other countries. There is a great book: The World is Flat that describes how more and more jobs get outsourced each day due to globalization. For Example: You bring your tax return to HR Block thinking that some Accountant in their office will do your tax return for $150. Wrong. They scan all your paperwork in and ship it off electronically to India, where an accountant trained in US tax laws does your return. The reason? In India, the accountant does it for a couple bucks and hour vs. fifty bucks an hour in the US.
There are many other jobs that get outsourced, assembly line jobs, technical support jobs, etc... Basically, anything that can be done competently by someone in another country is getting outsourced, all in the name of productivity and cost savings.
So, I was thinking about this recently and was wondering when all this outsourcing will benefit me??? HR Block's use of offshore accountants helps them make money. How can I take advantage of all this outsourcing....Hmmmmm.
Top 5 things I am planning on outsourcing:
1. Technical Support to family members - Yes, I work in high tech - but my time is more valuable than to help Lisa, my wife, figure out how to download 32 pictures from some 4 year old's birthday party, put them on line and share them.
Or nothing worse than sitting down to watch the Red Sox on TV and hearing "The computer is not working, please come help". This is usually a quicker fix - after taking a quick look at the hung state - I reboot everything. But these 5 minutes away from game, usually end up in a David Ortiz walk off home run...
From now on, when any family member needs help with basic computing tasks - I will give them a 1-800 number that connects them to someone in India who will be much more willing to help than me and I will happily pay the support rep $3 per hour to help with these tasks.
2. Sunday night trash and Recycling duty: Whoever made trash pickup in my town on a Monday morning was not thinking straight. Sunday night should be spent relaxing - not running around the house collecting trash and filling up the recycling bins. I would like to outsource this task. Can't you see the help wanted ad in the local paper?
Job Opening: Sanitation Engineer - Looking for someone to come into my house every Sunday night to collect and separate trash/recycling items. No need to speak english. Basic knowledge of plastic, paper, glass, and aluminum required. Pay: 1$ per bag or bin. Bonus Plan- Keep any bottle deposit money from beer and soda cans. Please send resume if you have 5+ years experience.
3. Bedtime routine with kids: Ok, not all the time but occasionally it would be nice to outsouce the bath, brush teeth, comb hair, read books nightly routine. How great would it be after a really long day to hang out with a glass of wine, while a trained professional ran my kids through a hyper efficient bedtime routine. The trained professional could type up a status report of any problems and email it to me.
4. Filling up the car with gasoline: What a pain this can be. I am always running on E at the worst possible times, like stuck in traffic or late to a meeting. Getting off an exit, standing at the self serve gas pump and getting back on the highway can take 20 minutes per fill up. I probably fill up once every week, sometimes more. That adds up to a couple hours per month wasted standing at the Mobil station.
Imagine if a gas fill up service came to ME every time my gas tank dropped below 1/2 full. All I need is a signal sent from my car and GPS. Gas could be delivered from some mobile gas station truck thing. Maybe even do an oil change, fill up my ashtray with quarters (so I have tolls or parking meter currency), and fill up my Altoids tin.
5. I am keeping Outsourcing idea #5 to myself. It is too good an idea to let out into public and have someone steal it and make the cover of Business Week. If High Tech tanks again - I am starting up a business based on idea #5.
Let the real Outsourcing revolution begin!
posted by Michael Carey at 2:44 PM
1 Comments:
How about outsource swapping? I'll do your trash/recycling and you put my kids to bed. Let's make a deal! We could post a development outsource swap meet.
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