Outsourcing To Podunk Keeping Jobs Within The Borders
Below is a MRR and PLR article in category Business -> subcategory Careers.
Outsourcing to Podunk: Keeping Jobs Within Our Borders
Overview
If you've recently called a company's customer service or tech support, you've likely encountered outsourcing firsthand. The use of non-native English speakers often leads to inefficiencies, yet many U.S. companies prioritize cost savings over customer satisfaction by outsourcing jobs to Southeast Asia. Forrester Research estimates that by 2015, over 3.3 million white-collar jobs, equating to $136 billion in wages, will be outsourced outside the U.S.
A Local Solution
As American consumers demand lower prices while seeking higher wages, businesses face a challenge and often look beyond U.S. borders. However, there's a solution closer to home: rural America. Outsourcing to these areas could be a win-win, addressing the issue of rising salaries and the demand for affordable goods. With living costs as much as a third lower than in big cities like San Francisco or New York, salaries in rural areas can be 40% lower due to reduced living expenses. Redirecting customer service and IT work to skilled, underemployed workers in places like North Carolina and New Mexico makes economic sense.
Potential for Rural Outsourcing
Many IT roles, from software development to project management, can be effectively outsourced to rural America. Additionally, jobs that lend themselves to remote work are moving to less urbanized regions, capitalizing on the availability of native English speakers.
Benefits for Professionals
Outsourcing within U.S. borders opens up opportunities for executives and managers seeking a quieter, safer lifestyle in small towns. Although rural positions might offer a 20% pay cut, the lower cost of living often compensates for it by reducing expenses such as gas and groceries.
Exploring opportunities in smaller towns, though fewer, can mean less competition. For example, McKesson Corporation relocated a key data center from San Francisco to Iowa, saving about $10 million annually in salary costs. Besides salary benefits, keeping jobs domestically offers advantages in time zones, cultural understanding, shared language, and tax base preservation. Nashville, Tennessee, for instance, offered Dell Computer tax incentives for establishing a manufacturing and customer service site.
Success Stories
Rural Sourcing, Inc., based in Jonesboro, Arkansas, creates white-collar jobs by retaining work that might have gone overseas in towns like Greenville, North Carolina, and Dubuque, Iowa. RSI provides project work, call centers, and other outsourced jobs to locals who prefer to stay in their communities.
Jennifer Daly from Manchester, Tennessee, shares her experience of losing local talent due to a lack of job opportunities. Despite many earning degrees in fields like engineering and computer science, they had to relocate for work.
Manchester is ideal for companies like RSI with its available talent, proximity to universities, low living costs, and strong educational systems. Small towns often experience a 'brain drain' when young professionals leave to find job opportunities elsewhere. Jack Allen, an IT executive, returned to his hometown of Perry, Georgia, after a stint in Austin, Texas. He now commutes to McDonough, Georgia, valuing the safer, quieter lifestyle for his family.
The Growing Trend
Following the post-9/11 urban exodus, moving white-collar jobs to small-town America is on the rise. Professionals in rural areas are as qualified as their urban counterparts without the burden of high housing and living costs. Keeping jobs domestically, rather than outsourcing to countries like India or Malaysia, leads to cost savings and improved customer service for everyone.
You can find the original non-AI version of this article here: Outsourcing To Podunk Keeping Jobs Within The Borders.
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