Outsourcing – Shameful or Smart?
Well, Yaro Starek has really lit a shit-storm over on Entrepreneurs-journey.com. He posted an article on his blog, and in just two days, he’s received over 200 very passionate comments.
What it’s about – you may know that John Reese is launching his Outsource Force product. In it he tells how to outsource much of the grunt work in your business to the Philippines for “$2.00 per hour” (a ridiculously low-ball figure, I suspect). A lot of folks have crawled out of their silent shells to voice opinions about whether you, I or anybody else should be hiring third-world workers.
Cries of exploitation and unfair business practices are flying in all directions.
Now, please be aware that most of these loudest opinions are probably being voiced by people who not only don’t currently outsource, they may never have businesses big enough to do any outsourcing. Nevertheless, they don’t think you or I or anybody else should do it. Just because.
That’s the thing, see. The world is full of people with opinions about stuff they’ll only ever hear about other people doing.
So if you’d truly like to understand this issue better, there’s Yaro’s excellent and carefully considered article, followed by a bunch of reasonably thoughtful comments (most of them) listing the pros and cons on this topic. This includes my own comment, which is very much pro (I don’t believe in pulling punches in this kind of situation).
Go to Yaro’s site now and see what the future holds for us on the Internet.
Cheers,
Charles
My wife Maggie and I have some very heated and passionate discussions about similar issues under the ‘Human Rights’ umbrella. Maggie works for an organization that deals with a LOT of Human Rights issues. I would consider the ‘ultimate purpose’ of her company’s work to be ‘good’.
She is also studying to become a full-time career counselor. As such, she has to be up to speed on all the various Human Rights codes. Again, I would allow that the ‘ultimate purpose’ of Human Rights is ‘good’.
HOWEVER…
Some things are also arguably a ‘reach’. Someone, somewhere with more time on his/her hands than they know what to do with, is making up stuff for the sheer sake of making up stuff, and having the audacity to put it under the umbrella of Human Rights.
For example, target marketing is generally accepted to be a smart business practice. Why should I piss away my money on shot-gun advertising when I know exactly what I want?
For example, I open a Japanese Restaurant. I plan to serve ONLY Japanese food. I outfit and decorate my restaurant in order to create the precise ambiance that transports my patrons into a Japanese ‘experience’ they won’t soon forget.
So far, no problem.
The ‘fun’ starts when I want to hire a chef. I *KNOW* that my chef will be part of the ‘show’, preparing fresh food on the grill right in front of my customers. I’ve narrowed down my choices for my perfect chef applicant to include a certain ‘look’… OK, I’ll stop beating around the bush – I’m looking for a Japanese chef who is… um… Japanese! I want my employment ad (for which I am paying good money) to screen and target my applicants, thus saving myself (and my potential applicants) a lot of time.
NO CAN DO unless I want a lawsuit!
It’s OK that I can ‘indiscriminately’ choose the food I serve. (Hey, I don’t do hamburgers and fries!)
It’s alright that I can ‘indiscriminately’ outfit and decorate my restaurant to give my customers a ‘Japanese’ experience. (Hey, a chair is a chair, right? As long as it is comfortable, who cares if ‘looks’ Japanese?)
I have even carefully selected my background music to create a traditional ‘Japanese’ atmosphere. (I don’t care if the local radio station will give me an advertising break if I play their station in my establishment).
But GOD HELP ME if I go so far as to specify that I want to hire a Japanese as my ‘Japanese’ chef!
In fact, this is only 1 of 15 (FIFTEEN) Human Rights issues currently in the books here in Canada. And thanks to all the bleeding hearts, that number – plus the number of INSANE RESTRICTIONS on legitimate business practices – increases on a far-too-frequent basis.
Like Unionization, the Human Rights movement started as a means of ‘protecting’ the Davids from the Goliaths. But you know how THAT story goes. In the end, David smites Goliath!
Charles, I loved your response to the ‘exploitation’ issue. Of course, I would. You and I have been self-employed entrepreneurs practically all our lives. Taking on all the risks and responsibilities of self-employment – let alone hiring or outsourcing help – is hard enough without having to put up with those who prefer to scream ‘unfair’ when EQUAL OPPORTUNITY is there for everyone.
All the best from Toronto,
Russ