Offshoring Automated Away?

from the and-so-it-goes... dept

While the whole offshoring debate seems to have quieted down over the last few months, one thing that was never explained clearly was why people who have no problem with jobs being automated out of existence (progress!) were so upset about offshoring. However, those who recognized the parallels may be amused to see that offshored call centers are getting increasingly worried that the latest speech recognition technology is a "threat" to their business. The latest versions of the technology are actually doing a decent job of handling basic call center tasks (without hold time, and with a more uniformed, accurate response level). In the meantime, we're still wondering what the difference is between the anger against automation (luddites) and the anger against offshoring?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    dorpus, 8 Mar 2005 @ 2:44am

    The non-English world

    So far, the notion of jobs getting outsourced has been largely unique to the English-speaking world. In other countries like Japan or Germany, which is not spoken widely outside of the country, no outsourcing to speak of has occurred. Sophisticated speech recognition will be the first time that call center jobs will disappear in those countries. For now, young people still have this attitude that they can get temp jobs when they want, therefore they don't have to take life seriously. It will be nice to make them fear starvation.
    This happily unemployed 24-year-old on Japanese TV
    describes his day: (from top) sleep, eat, bathe, sleep, TV, lunch at convenience store, TV, sleep, bathe, dinner at convenience store, lounge around in room, sleep.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    slim999, 8 Mar 2005 @ 6:16am

    No Subject Given

    It's not "soft ware" they should be worried about, but being "soft targets," as the Muslim population in places like Bangalore increasingly view the majority's largest employers as easy pickings.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    nonuser, 8 Mar 2005 @ 6:26am

    Microsoft, Open Source, new platforms, offshoring

    The way to think of all these threats to your livelihood is that they're forces of nature. You stand in one place, you get creamed.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Danno, 8 Mar 2005 @ 7:19am

    Different Reasons

    Most tech workers aren't upset about being downsized by technology because they know that there's nothing that can stop it from happening. New technology comes out and somebody loses a job. And since they're tech workers, they appreciate how hard it is to stop technological innovation.

    Outsourcing to another country however is a near totally social condition. Yes, some technology is involved (instant communication), but for the most part, it's a human decision rather than a progressive necessity.

    You shouldn't treat everything like a force of nature because then you're just a reactionary and will always be caught behind the curve.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2005 @ 11:26am

      Re: Different Reasons

      Mike,

      You are such a dick.
      this is the most slanted blurp you've ever posted.
      Automation and human replacement are not the same things.
      If your job were offshored to some idiot that couldn't write in English I would gather that you too wouldn't be too pleased.
      Stop being so fucking pro-offshoring and stick to the topic @ hand.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Mike (profile), 8 Mar 2005 @ 11:36am

        Re: Different Reasons

        Ah. Well, if you read what I actually write, you'd realize I'm not "pro-offshoring." I actually think most companies that do it are making a huge mistake -- moving critical components of their business somewhere where they have very little control over it. I think most businesses that offshore underestimate the costs of managing an operation halfway around the world.

        That said... what I'm against is protectionism... as that only serves to destroy the economy. If offshoring makes a company more efficient, it often leads to many more jobs in the original country.

        It is, clearly, the same thing as the issue with automation. It's all about moving work to something cheaper or more efficient. You can make the claim that it isn't cheaper or more efficient -- but you can't say that in cases where it is that it's a bad thing.

        Also, as I've said plenty of times before... if my job was somehow "offshored," then so be it. I'd know it's time for me to adjust and find a different job that can't easily be offshored. That's my responsibility. No one deserves a job for life.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2005 @ 3:12pm

          Re: Different Reasons

          The difference I see is in where the money spent to implement the "cheaper solutions" winds up. From a U.S. perspective, an automated solution will (most likely) have the expenditures wind up with another U.S. company providing the technology. Offshoring moves the expenditures, read $$$, to non-U.S. companies providing the service. Comparatively, I'd rather see the money stay in the good old U.S.A.

          link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.