End in sight for IT jobs outsourcing massacre

[klr]

If it costs a company £20 million to get something done in the UK or £10 million to get it done in China, it will be outsourced. Companies are not charities and they have a responsibility to their shareholders. If you believe that companies work for "the good of society" or exist to keep people employed, you need to take the rose-tinted glasses off. If it can be outsourced, it WILL be outsourced and the only way for the current "First World" economies to compete is to do those things that "Second World" economies cannot yet do.

The problem is that in many cases, it is not actually cheaper, even in the short run. I could quote numerous examples from my own organization where obscene consultancy fees have been handed over to do something that could have been done "in house" in next to no time.

And even where the numbers do seem to add up, the effect is to make yourself completely dependent on an external provider who can milk you for all they are worth. Once you get rid of all the competent internal people, there'll be no-one left who has either the expertise or the motivation to critically evaluate anything. All you'll have are managers who'll cover their assess when something goes wrong, and where no-one either inside or outside ever gets properly held to account.

[Clinton Huxley]

Consultancy fees need to be re-assuringly expensive...

We outsource a fair bit where I work and I know for the roles we have outsourced, it defnitely would be more expensive to have that body sat in the UK. Paying an excess like that would restrict what other things the company can spend its money on, like R&D.

[klr]

Consultancy fees need to be re-assuringly expensive...

We outsource a fair bit where I work and I know for the roles we have outsourced, it defnitely would be more expensive to have that body sat in the UK. Paying an excess like that would restrict what other things the company can spend its money on, like R&D.

Well, obviously YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). I'm not against outsourcing, shared services, etc. where it makes plain common sense to do so. But things like paying consultants several thousand Euro to do a simple task that an internal staffer would do by themselves in a fraction of the time and with considerably greater diligence ...

[Clinton Huxley]

Consultancy fees need to be re-assuringly expensive...

We outsource a fair bit where I work and I know for the roles we have outsourced, it defnitely would be more expensive to have that body sat in the UK. Paying an excess like that would restrict what other things the company can spend its money on, like R&D.

Well, obviously YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). I'm not against outsourcing, shared services, etc. where it makes plain common sense to do so. But things like paying consultants several thousand Euro to do a simple task that an internal staffer would do by themselves in a fraction of the time and with considerably greater diligence ...

Sometimes its about budgets - it can be easier to add a temporary consultant, even at exorbitant cost, than to add someone to payroll.

What I wonder about consultants is this - has a consultant ever gone in somewhere, charged with finding efficiencies, and has produced a report that said, "You know what, you're doing pretty well! I recommend no changes. That'll be £250K please".

[klr]

Consultancy fees need to be re-assuringly expensive...

We outsource a fair bit where I work and I know for the roles we have outsourced, it defnitely would be more expensive to have that body sat in the UK. Paying an excess like that would restrict what other things the company can spend its money on, like R&D.

Well, obviously YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). I'm not against outsourcing, shared services, etc. where it makes plain common sense to do so. But things like paying consultants several thousand Euro to do a simple task that an internal staffer would do by themselves in a fraction of the time and with considerably greater diligence ...

Sometimes its about budgets - it can be easier to add a temporary consultant, even at exorbitant cost, than to add someone to payroll.

That has been said to my face, as recently as last week. So much for employees being an organization's greatest asset. Of course, "easier" is usually meant in the context of organizational politics and managerial agendas.

What I wonder about consultants is this - has a consultant ever gone in somewhere, charged with finding efficiencies, and has produced a report that said, "You know what, you're doing pretty well! I recommend no changes. That'll be £250K please".

Would a turkey vote for Christmas?

[Clinton Huxley]

Another factor is that senior managers need to be seen to be changing things, at least every 2 years. Otherwise they aren't "innovative" enough. It doesn't even matter what the change is, just so long as everything gets changed.

[Clinton Huxley]

Anyway, if it involves sitting at a desk, it can be done in China or wherever becomes cheapest next.

Future-proof yourself by becoming a vet, teacher or cat-burglar. They still need local people.

[klr]

Another factor is that senior managers need to be seen to be changing things, at least every 2 years. Otherwise they aren't "innovative" enough. It doesn't even matter what the change is, just so long as everything gets changed.

Yup. Middle managers focus their attention on their superiors, not their subordinates. Senior management rarely knows what is really going, and in the case of IT, just about never. Even if they were told the truth, they would not be able to make sense of it.

Anyway, if it involves sitting at a desk, it can be done in China or wherever becomes cheapest next.

Future-proof yourself by becoming a vet, teacher or cat-burglar. They still need local people.

Animals are the same the world over, so vets can easily be brought in from abroad as long as their qualifications are trusted. As for teaching, the digital revolution could well destroy the teaching profession as we know it.

Which just leaves

[HomerJay]

Well I.T. had to finally catch up with the reality of most other businesses eventually.

When I see accountants & managers being outsourced en masse, then I'll believe that.

I thought accountants had been done, as numbers look the same in any language?

Any johnny furriner can add up numbers.

[klr]

Well I.T. had to finally catch up with the reality of most other businesses eventually.

When I see accountants & managers being outsourced en masse, then I'll believe that.

I thought accountants had been done, as numbers look the same in any language?

Any johnny furriner can add up numbers.

Like the legal profession, accountants are partly protected from the evils delights of globalisation by local regulations which confuse furriners.

Many, many years ago, when I was still but a college student studying for my B.Comm., we were at one of the many presentations given by accountancy firms looking to recruit. One of my classmates asked a question about working abroad, and got the rather condescending reply along the lines of "... they do things differently there".