ILO: Back Office, Data Entry & Customer Service Jobs Offer Good Quality & High Pay

There has been rising controversy regarding outsourcing, particularly as unemployment is rising in the U.S in the wake of a recession. Adding to the loss of jobs in the U.S are sensitive issues like immigration which has soured international relationships with other countries.

Nonetheless, the practice which has been in use for nearly two decades continues to offer business solutions for achieving cost efficiency. For most positions, an outsourced job offers at least a 50 percent savings in terms of company expenses.

With the traditional view of offshoring sprouting into newer concepts like nearshoring and onshoring, outsourcing has taken on a new dimension with several positive angles. Now, its not just about foreign economies taking advantage of cheap labor. Stiff competition in the recovery will mean that a number of strategies will energy to make outsourcing a strong business practice.

Apart from this, these outsourced jobs pay a hefty amount in top outsourcing locations like India, Philippines, Vietnam and even Korea. Outsourcing to China is a now a mainstay for manufacturing and the mainland is expected to overtake India, which has dominated the outsourcing landscape for more than ten years. Moreover, domestic workers employed at outsourcing firms are enjoying good pay even if they do not have an opportunity to search for jobs overseas. Often the pay rates are twice as much as local jobs. And most of these employees who work for outsourcing firms are young, well educated and women. In employing women alone, the Asian region has changed since women have become stable breadwinners in the family. It has reshaped the way they are treated in the community and their place in society. Outsourcing has now created a pathway for talented employees to earn quality jobs in developing nations.

Most of the jobs offered in the industry range from data entry or customer service to back office jobs taking care of the needs of companies in the U.S. Outsourcing IT is also a favored option since this is not the focus of most firms. Most peripheral jobs are outsourced and this is a strategic move since it gives the outsourcing company the time to focus on their flagship product. The data entry and the customer service area is now a fast growing market and is reeling in $90 billion.

The ILO (International Labor Organization), based in Geneva, did a study on outsourcing in Philippine, India, and South America. And the organization found that overall, outsourced jobs were of high quality for those employed in underdeveloped nations. Some negatives include working late hours, working under tight deadlines and stressful work conditions and multitasking. The ability to adjust to foreign cultures, to speak a western language/English fluently may all be some factors where the employee in the third world country may fall a little short. In fact, some companies are already shifting there customer service centers back home in order to provide better customer satisfaction. In addition, the turnover rate for employees in the outsourcing business is high since it is not for everyone.