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The US Is Becoming a Hot Spot For Outsourcing (bendbulletin.com)
New submitter cdreimer shares a report from The New York Times (Warning: may be paywalled; alternate source) about how companies are now outsourcing in the United States, hiring from Michigan instead of Mumbai. From the report: For years, American companies have been saving money by "offshoring" jobs -- hiring people in India and other distant cubicle farms. Today, some of those jobs are being outsourced again -- in the United States. Nexient, a software outsourcing company, reflects the evolving geography of technology work. It holds daily video meetings with one of its clients, Bill.com, where team members stand up and say into the camera what they accomplished yesterday for Bill.com, and what they plan to do tomorrow. The difference is, they are phoning in from Michigan, not Mumbai. "It's the first time we've been happy outsourcing," said Rene Lacerte, the chief executive of Bill.com, a bill payment-and-collection service based in Palo Alto, Calif. Nexient is a domestic outsourcer, a flourishing niche in the tech world as some American companies pull back from the idea of hiring programmers a world away. Salaries have risen in places like South Asia, making outsourcing there less of a bargain. In addition, as brands pour energy and money into their websites and mobile apps, more of them are deciding that there is value in having developers in the same time zone, or at least on the same continent.
It holds daily video meetings with one of its clients, Bill.com, where team members stand up and say into the camera what they accomplished yesterday for Bill.com, and what they plan to do tomorrow.
Which sounds like an absolute living hell.
I bet after a few weeks of being told they haven't accomplished enough for Bill.com today, and their plan for tomorrow isn't good enough, the really good workers leave and find a job where their boss doesn't look over their shoulder every day.
I think we have to give Trumpo some credit. He shook the overseas-based outsourcing market by introducing fear, uncertainty, and doubt into it such that companies are less likely to want to depend on it exclusively or heavily.
His most effective strategy has been the bully pulpit. Getting legislation passed has been a bear for him, and Executive Orders have had relatively limited impact compared to other newly elected Presidents.
In addition to overseas outsourcing, border crossings appear to be down, possibly on the threat that he'll make life difficult for undocumented visitors.
Some also give him credit for the alleged stock market surge by promising to cut taxes and regulation, although the stock trends have been arguably the same for about 6 years if one ignores smaller bumps and dips.
USA has a new 4th branch of gov't: the Shouting Branch...or the Twitter Branch.
Table-ized A.I.