However you define it, it’s about creating jobs in the U.S.
The economy is a hot topic, particularly now that we’re in the midst of a presidential election year. The debate and discussion about creating jobs in the U.S. has put the trend of “insourcing” back in the spotlight.
Depending on who you ask, insourcing has different definitions. The term is commonly used to describe the trend of bringing jobs that had been outsourced overseas back to the U.S. The White House also has been using the word to describe U.S. job creation through investments by foreign firms.
Here’s where it might get a little confusing: Insourcing doesn’t always mean that companies will be hiring in-house. The jobs can still be outsourced to a specialist provider. As long as the jobs stay in the U.S., the arrangement can fall under the insourcing umbrella.
Ultimately, the trend boils down to the fact that the U.S. can be an attractive destination when the total cost of doing business is taken into consideration. Certainly, when it comes to manufacturing, it is difficult to beat low overseas labor costs, the ability to source components and ramp up production. But for customer service, IT support and some highly technical fields, the U.S. is desirable because of its educational infrastructure, low-risk supply chain, high worker productivity and a lack of language and cultural barriers.
The insourcing trend has given rise to “ruralshoring,” or the outsourcing of work to communities in the U.S. that have a lower cost of living, a good supply of workers and the educational infrastructure to train them.
The ruralshoring concept is applicable to the region around El Paso, Texas, where DATAMARK is headquartered. For example, corporations in bigger, more expensive cities choose to outsource their mailroom and document processing operations to DATAMARK’s facilities in El Paso, where work can be handled by specialists at a lower cost and with high quality and efficiency.
Another service offered by DATAMARK is contact centers for bilingual English-Spanish customer support. Again, the availability of talented bilingual workers, a comparatively lower cost of labor and facilities, and educational infrastructure (two major universities in the region) demonstrate why insourcing can be the best option for many companies seeking to outsource.
The avgantade to outsourcing, as the authors point out, is that you can have several apps getting built simultaneously while you concentrate on designs. You may want to check out this advice on outsourcing.