Friday 28 November 2008

AI 158 Is it the time to bring the jobs back home?


The world is under going seismic changes and the only thing for sure is that things will be very different moving forward.

The latest tragedy in India of terrorists targeting USA and UK citizens is raising concerns about corporate dependency upon critical offshore services for national business.

At the same time both the USA and UK need to find new jobs fast. But, and it’s a big but, the credit liquidity crises is forcing corporates to cut costs by downsizing and outsourcing more business operations.

What will happen if these outsourced jobs go offshore?

There is no doubt that if the USA and UK continue to outsource services to offshore then their national socioeconomic implications could be disastrous.

Is there an alternative?

The USA and UK can do what they do best and that is use innovation to create new jobs fast.

Since offshoring took momentum there have been big strides in technology using artificial intelligence, virtual call centers and virtual working that when combined could well become more cost effective than offshoring. With sociopolitical pressures to create new jobs at home combined with new innovative technologies may be enough to move market sentiment to bring the jobs back home.