Could Your Job Be Outsourced Overseas Most Likely! - Career Pivot

Could Your Job Be Outsourced Overseas Most Likely! - Career Pivot Could Your Job Be Outsourced Overseas? Copyright: michaeldb / 123RF Stock Photo Jobs are being outsourced overseas! If you have been following the U.S. presidential campaigns this is a hot topic. Jobsâ€"and particularly manufacturing jobs have moved to places where labor is the least expensive. This has been happening since the beginning of time. As the gig or freelance economy continues to emerge, more jobs will be outsourced overseas. What Services Are Outsourced? Any service that does not require close, face to face interaction with the customer can be outsourced. Let me give you an example: Last weekend I lost my house and car keys while on a long walk. My wife was out of town. I had no way to get back into our condominium. (No, we do not have a lockbox or key hidden somewhere!) I performed a search on my iPhone for a locksmith, found a 24-hour locksmith and called them. The nice lady who answered the phone took down my location and told me a technician would contact me within 15 minutes. The technician called me and discussed my problem. He arrived a short time later and spent an hour trying to open the door. He eventually gave up and drilled out the lock. The number I called had a 512 area code which is my local area code in Austin, Texas. Where was she located? My guess is India, but she could have done her job anywhere. The locksmith was an independent contractor and lived a short distance from our home. The only job that could not be outsourced was the one that required direct interaction with me and the lock on my front door. I use a lot of services that are location independent. These include my bookkeeper, editor, webmaster, writers, etc. Listen to the most recent episode Is your job location independent? If so, it can be outsourced overseas. Oh, by the way, the politicians cannot stop this from happening! What ProductsAre Outsourced? Manufacturing businesses typically move to where labor is the least expensiveâ€"with one major exception. That exception is when the cost of transporting the product is a significantly large. When the transportation cost is a major factor, products will be made closer to the consumer. Manufacturing of desktop computers has typically been based in the US but moved overseas as sales declined. Apple is even moving manufacturing of the MacBook Pro back to U.S. because of transportation costs and the fact that they can automate almost the entire manufacturing process. Manufacturing is starting to come back with a few jobs. Manufactures will build any product at the lowest costsomewhere overseas when transportation costs are not a major factor. The only thing that politicians or the government can do is slow it down. What Can You Do to Protect Yourself? If you provide a service (i.e. accountant, IT support, lawyer, doctor, nurse, vet, banker), the closer your business is to the customer the better. The jobs least likely to be outsourced overseas are probably nurses. Despite this, an accountant or corporate lawyer can easily be outsourced overseas. The best way to protect yourself against this is to work yourself into a position that requires you to have direct contact with the customer. The other way to protect yourself is to become a freelancer and have clients anywhere in the world. By the way, I have had clients on 4 continents and 8 countries since starting Career Pivot. Manufacturing If you are in manufacturing or manufacturing support, beware of the transportation costs. So many products I currently use fit in the palm of my hand. Manufacturers can build these products anywhere due to their size and weight. A good example is that a single, small individual can now pick up a televisionâ€"this used to require two large men to do the same thing. As much as one of our presidential candidates wants to move manufacturing back to the U.S., this does not make sense. In fact, manufacturing is leaving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to move to Mexico due to rising wages and general proximity of Mexico to the US. Your job is at risk. Previously I wrote that your job can be SMACedâ€"Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud technologies will affect almost all of our jobs. Your job could be eliminated or outsourced overseas due to these technologies. The politicians and government cannot protect you. You need to protect yourself. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...