Although there is some debate regarding the validity of offshoring to top outsourcing locations, outsourcing, a new study has found that the practice is not to be associated with the conventional notion of taking advantage of emerging economies. In fact, these jobs might be better than the jobs available in the home country.
According to the International Labor Organization, outsourced jobs are of good quality when measured in terms of local standards in underdeveloped countries like China, India, the Philippines, or Vietnam.
Most of these outsourcing jobs account for data processing, call center services and back operations that support financial departments of companies. This segment is a fast growing industry and is a $90 billion market.
Head-quartered in Geneva, ILO conducted studies on outsourcing in India, South America, and the Philippines. Overall, the average employee assessed in the study was well educated, young and female. Incidentally, Filipinos who work in outsourcing make nearly 50% more than their counterparts holding domestic positions. Meanwhile, in India the salary for outsourcing employees is twice the pay that local workers makes.
However, some of the drawbacks defined by the ILO were night shifts to enable productivity in various time zones, taxing workload that are often stressful for the overseas employee due to differences in culture and communication styles. Naturally, the turnover is high for employees in outsourcing.
The ILO was quoted by U.S. Global Investors as saying, “the bottom line is that this is an industry with the potential to offer a model for a future of good quality service sector jobs and high-performing companies in the global economy.”
According to consulting firm KPMG, China has the biggest market share in Asia and the Pacific Rim while India retains supremacy as the leading location for outsourcing from Europe and North America.
According to a poll of companies throughout Asia, about 40 percent has a contact center in China, while 40 percent had deals with vendors in the mainland. In comparison, Singapore and India came in 2nd and 3rd in the survey.
KPMG says the outsourcing market is expected to double by 2014 after skyrocketing from $7.5 billion in 2007 to a whopping $20 billion in 2009.