Competition with Cheaper Labor

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Written by Phuc

Friday, 18 June 2010 14:15

Whether you're a web designer, developer or business owner, there's always an abundance of work in technology, but are we really able to compete for jobs or for clients with companies or clients who depend on cheaper labor (human or programs) such as overseas outsourcing, the young, fresh out of college students, entry level, WYSIWYGs, website generators/template makers, you name it??

You've probably heard of "overseas outsourcing" particular associated with India. Outsourcing overseas is hiring companies or individuals outside of the country to do work. It's not just India, but any country. Outsourcing is often done because the labor is cheaper; they can pay for work much less than what they would pay a full time employee or "in house" labor. That is why a lot of clothes, electronics, etc, from American companies are not made in the United States. Tech support now a days, redirects you to a representative outside the country. Even recruiter call me up from another country, representing an agency from another state, for a position in-state, as explained in: Enough is Enough entry. These company may feel cheaper labor means more profits, an affordable way to keep the company going, give clients lower rates, and keep up with competitors.

For the fresh out of college recent graduates, there is an abundance of entry level positions in web technology. Companies are targeting these individuals because they also are also considered "cheaper labor." I have been refused interviews for having more experience than entry level, been told by a very discontent HR that I shouldn't have gotten an interview, and see that there are many job ads that specifically state that ONLY entry level would be taken into consideration. Sometimes they may mask it as wanting an uninfluenced candidate who can easily mold into the company, making it sound like people with more experience are less likely to adapt.

Thirdly, there are the WYSIWYG editors, website and template generators that claims to turn "anyone" into a web designer or web developer. There are plenty of people who want to make their own websites, likely because it's cheaper than paying a pro, they are aspiring web designers, or want to start a business, without being formally trained, going though research or studying important elements of web designing/development. This gives a false impression that it doesn't take a pro to do web work and hinders the chances of us obtaining clients who decide to throw a website together with these tools or also clients who choose a cheaper made website from company who also use these tools. Someone who I thought could have been a potential client, straight out told me that he doesn't have a website, but doesn't need someone to make one for him because he's convinced he can easily throw together a website at anytime, using any website building tools. "Piece of cake." There's also an abundance of free downloadable plug and play CMS tools with free design templates, and free blogs companies use. Programmers also have intelligently built CMS's systems as a web service that they allow clients with minimal technical skills to easily create and maintain websites for a small subscription fee.

There's the controversial debate that overseas outsourcing labor are taking away jobs of citizens, that there is more unemployment because of this, and that it's only going to get worse. A colleague of mine in the web technology industry feels that if companies can't afford paying employees within the country, then there is something wrong, that maybe they shouldn't even be running a business. I don't know the stats, but I can tell you that this loss of jobs are occurring in other industries, for example, a local manufacturing company laid off most to nearly all employees except a few, and outsourced the rest of the work to Asia, with the possibility that the company would be sold to Asia or that the company will shut down soon. Considering from my own experience, having being in touch with offshore technical support, recruiters, and customer support, it is a scary thought to lose a job or opportunity to offshore outsource. What would become of the rest of us?

The cold hard truth is no one wants to (and really can't) compete with offshore candidates in terms of salary when they are also providing equal quality of work. Believe me, the stereotypes that other "poorer" countries have lower education is not true. I've met and worked with highly intelligent individuals from overseas. Cost of living here monetarily is much higher than elsewhere, using same amount of dollars. I looked up gigs on freelance sites where people in other countries were bidding $10 total to build a whole e-commerce site, for example. I was tempted to outbid some of these ridiculously low offers, just to practice, but then I don't want to encourage lowering industry standards. We can't compete with the cheaper labor of fresh out of college grads also; BUT that is good news for college grads.

However we can, as employees, freelancers, and business owners, compete when we are aware that we also need non-entry level candidates who have the advantage of experience. More experience, may mean less cost in training and time it takes to catch up, which means faster adaptation, (on the contrary of the belief the experienced can't be molded). In-house employees also have the advantage of being on-site, understanding in-office culture, with same time zone, which all essentially helps with communication and productivity. According to http://change.gov/agenda/economy_agenda, the goverment is or is going reward companies who keep jobs within the country and not give tax breaks to companies who move their work overseas. Also those who also are convinced that they can throw a website together using tools, need to understand, the detail and knowledge that a professional takes into consideration to put together a astheticly pleasing, user friendly, better standard website; better accessible, cross-browser compatible, and friendly for search engines. Nothing can replace that detail.

We just have to work a little harder to compete for these positions, clients, and competitors by convincing/educating clients why they need us. As business owners, we also need to think about the future; working hard to help build the economy, as oppose to taking the easier option. Although it seems many odds are against us, I know that it's possible, as I have interviewed and done work for successful companies that don't outsource overseas.

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