The New “Outsourced”
The term “outsourcing” was once laced with threat. It meant that a company was moving because jobs had been outsourced, usually offshore. As demand for cheaper products and continuing corporate profitability drove labor costs ever lower, jobs moved from expensive places in the US, to cheaper places in the US, to cheaper place outside of the US and finally to even cheaper places outside of the US.
What has, at times, seemed like a mass exodus of jobs has devastated some communities. At the same time, we have experienced the rise of knowledge economy jobs, jobs that we didn’t even know would exist a couple of decades ago. A mere 10 years ago, there was no such thing as an iPhone app developer, because iPhones didn’t exist yet.
Outsource Meets Opportunity
Along with the threat, there is an opportunity side of “outsourced.” When I developed the company City Hall Solutions, I had a vision about the image that should represent the company. While I am in business to help cities with strategic performance and economic development, with the company providing solutions to issues plaguing government agencies, I also love the idea of city hall being a solution for a community. Cities with the right resources are in a position to solve many community issues. The image I had was of a townscape where city hall was represented by a lightbulb – the center of ideas for the community.
I went online to see if I could find someone to illustrate this image for me, as my stick figure drawing skills would never make my vision a reality. Through a Google search I learned that there are websites where artists from across the globe will draw an illustration for you, for an incredibly low price. Before I knew it, I had committed to pay $36.75 for an illustration of my idea, and was emailing back and forth with an artist from Serbia.
A week later I was working on developing my website. While there are incredible website programs out there that give you templates to pick and choose from, like my drawing skills, my design skills weren’t getting me the look I wanted. In digging into the site a little further, I found out that there were freelance designers that you could hire to design the site for you. This was the perfect solution for me, I’d get the original and professional look I wanted, while still being able to use a super easy website platform. I soon emailed six designers, including one in Australia, one in Israel, one in Italy and several in the US. I ended up using a designer from a small town in Michigan. Personally, I think the results are fantastic.
Benefits from Outsourcing
Having so many choices at my fingertips was powerful. I really felt like I had the opportunity to find the best illustrator and designer for my project and budget, in the world. That a small business owner has access to these resources is a true sign of the new knowledge economy. My company benefited from these transactions, as did a person in Serbia and a company in the United States.
Did local companies lose out? Even if I had found a local artist, it is unlikely that I would have paid to have a drawing commissioned. I did not find a local web designer using the platform I liked, although it is certainly an opportunity for a talented local designer.
Even more importantly, I found the right designer for my company. Someone who was able to translate the mission and purpose of the company into a website with the perfect look and feel. It is also easy to navigate and was completed within a very tight schedule. The robust outsourcing market is yet another sign that it is talent that will drive companies, communities and success in the future.
Turning Outsourcing into Insourcing
Talent drives success. This is a critical message for cities. Whether talent is individual artists and designers who want to live in your city, or scientists and engineers that want to work for local companies, talent will rule. This changes the game of economic development from focusing solely on attracting big corporations to focusing on building great communities. Having a community where people want to be will drive economic development in the future, and when cities do this right, “outsourcing” becomes “insourcing” for your talent. The City Hall Solutions “Think Tank” page will be home to ideas and resources that will help your community bring talent home.
