Outsourcing

Outsourcing affects large groups of people each year. For some, it is beneficial, for others, it can be equally disastrous. There are many people each year who lose their jobs because their company is outsourcing to another place where they can hire someone to do the exact same job for a much lower pay. It is estimated that in the next ten years 3.5 million jobs in the form of computer programmers and call centers will be outsourced. In the end, who really benefits from outsourcing? Outsourcing has both a positive and negative effect on the United States and the countries we outsource to.

Outsourcing emerged a few thousand years ago due to the production and sales of food, tools and other household appliances. Once societies and communities began to form people with specialized professions began to trade with one another for goods and services. During the industrial revolution the first wave of outsourcing occurred. At this time the companies doing the outsourced work were mostly located in the same country. During the 1970s, in the United States, it was common for computer companies to export their payrolls to outside service providers for processing. Accounting services, payroll, billing and word processing all became outsourced work in the 1980s. The reasons for outsourcing had more to do with small efficiencies than reshaping the economy. During the late 1980s outsourcing began to emerge as a potentially powerful force in transforming global economies. Early outsourcing by corporations like Kodak and American Standard captured the public’s eye. Kathleen Hudson said her goal was to “plug