By Paul Zukowski
Corporate Report Wisconsin
A version of this editorial appeared in the April issue of Corporate Report Wisconsin, along with a feature article on doing business in India: http://crwmag.com/CRW/InFocus/2004/April04Foc.html
In the constant quest to keep a competitive edge in the global economy, jobs are being shifted to the lowest-cost producer, just like they always have.
Only now everyone from CNN’s Lou Dobbs to people running for office are getting hysterical about the supposed “exporting” of American jobs as if it won’t stop until we’re all out of work.
That’s absurd, of course. The vast majority of jobs can’t ever be sent offshore — I’m thinking of construction, transportation, health care, wholesale and retail, tourism, you get the picture. And free trade enriches both sides.
However, because the trickle of white-collar jobs moving to places like Ireland and India might become a torrent, I thought it would be a good time for a reality check: Is my job offshore-proof?
As an editor and business journalist, I feel my job is pretty safe for now. But for how long I’m not sure. I can envision a virtual workplace where stories are written in one country, edited in another, and made into layouts in still another. With cheap long-distance rates, reporters could even work from India and do Wisconsin stories — if they were willing to work during their night because of the 12-hour time difference.
In addition to time zones, I think there are deeper cultural and educational reasons a foreign writer might not be able to get the best interview from a business owner in Wisconsin, or why an Indian editor wouldn’t grasp the nuances of doing business here.
Yet I must admit, it is possible that writing and editing could be done offshore. That means people in my profession had better deliver the highest value product and service they can so that price is not the object. And if price does become the object, my fallback will be to make sure I am the one local yokel who is retained when the rest of the production is sent to Bangalore.
How about your job? Do you have to be here to do it well?
— Paul Zukowski is editor of Corporate Report Wisconsin.
