I called American Express customer service a few days ago and was surprised to learn that the lady on the phone was in New Delhi.
Her English was perfect and she did her job well. The customer - me - was happy with the service.
I'm not sure how much it costs to employ a worker in New Delhi. I imagine it's cheaper than the cost of employing a similarly skilled US employee.
The benefits to the company are easy to see. Amex saves money this way, their profit/loss sheets look better, and Amex stockholders are happy. And, the executives who implemented the "outsourcing" scheme look smart - so they pay themselves more as a reward.
The Net and the instant communication available over telephone lines allows all manner of "work" to be outsourced. After my call to New Delhi, I tried to think up all the sorts of jobs that could be outsourced with no apparent ill effects.
Clearly, any help line work can be done from abroad. Phone catalog work can be done from abroad. Telemarketing. Ticket sales.
Any business that sells over the Net could be hosted abroad. The outfit I buy sporting goods from has an office in Wisconsin. They could do the same thing far cheaper if their office was in Singapore.
Many goods are manufactured overseas for a lot less than American workers could produce them. Shoes, toys, computers, furniture, clothing, books, cell phones. You name it.
So, the goods can be made abroad. They can be sold from abroad. They can be packaged and shipped from abroad. Help using the products can be obtained from customer service people abroad.
In fact, the list of jobs that CAN'T be done overseas seems shorter than the list of jobs that can.
Why can't executives who run companies also be outsourced?
Stockholders own companies. It's in the stockholders' interests to save money - and CEO and executive pay and benefits are a big drain on companies' profits.
Executives learn how to manage businesses at schools. Can'y you teach an Indian student the same things you can teach an American student? Aren't the principles the same?
How much money would American corporations save by outsourcing their CEO's?
What good reason is there to NOT outsource them?
I guess you could claim that American CEO's have a better sense of the business climate in America - but I doubt that's true. Business is business. If a worker in Bangladesh can MAKE my shoes, I don't see why a Bangladeshi CEO can't figure out how best to SELL those same shoes.
I won stock in a bunch of companies. Maybe I should go to a stockholders meeting and bring this idea up.