David Schlesinger's "Off-Shoring With Obligation" memo
Interesting memo sent by David Schlesinger (Reuter's managing editor) to his Staff where he tried to deal straight with the growing outsourcing trend within his company:Off-Shoring With Obligation
I grew up in New London, Connecticut, which in the 19th century was a major whaling center. In the 1960’s and 70’s the whales were long gone and the major employers in the region were connected with the military - not a surprise during the Vietnam era. My classmates’ parents worked at Electric Boar, the Navy and the Coast Guard. The peace divident changed the region once again, and now it is best known for the great gambling casinos of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods and for the pharmaceutical researchers of Phizer. Jobs went; jobs were created. Skills went out of use; new skills were required. The region changed; people changed. New London, of course, was not unique. How many mill towns saw their mills close; how many shoe towns saw the shoe industry move elsewhere; how many towns that were once textile powerhouses now buy all their linens from China? Change is hard. Change is hardest on those caught by surprise. Change is hardest on those who have difficulty changing too. But change is natural; change is not new; change is important. The current debate about off-shoring is dangerously hot. But the debate about work going to India, China and Mexico is actually no different from the debate once held about submarine workd leaving New London or shoe work leaving Massachusetts or textile work leaving North Carolina. Work gets done where it can be done mose effectively and efficiently. That ulimately helps the New Londons, New Bedfords and New Yorks of this world even more than it helps the Bangalores and Shenzhens. It helps because it frees up people and captial to do different, more sphisticated work, and it helps because it gives an opportunity to produce the end product more cheaply, benefiting customers even as it helps the corporation. It’s certainly difficult for individuals to think about “their” work going away, being done thousands of miles away by someone earning thousands of dollards less per year. But it’s time to think about the opportunity as well as the pain, just as it’s time to think about th eobligations of off-shoring as well as the opportunities … Every person, just as every corporation, must tend to his or her own economic destiny, just as our parents and grandparents in the mills, shoe shops and factories did.
Labels: outsourcing
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