Smart Move by WilmerHaleApril 29th, 2010 by adminAs was blogged by the Posse List (if you aren’t on their listervs now, you should be) and Gabe, WilmerHale is making the move to outsource some of its backoffice operations (originally reported by Law360). But this is good news, as Wilmer is keeping its business within the United States, (or insourcing) by going to Ohio, not Hyderabad. Good move. From the Law360 Article,
The trend now is developing among the more strategic law firms to shift operations to domestic cities with lower costs and an educated populace. This is what clever, long term growth oriented law firms will be doing, rather than blindly shipping it off across the planet to a foreign country. Crowd Sourcing – the Next Big Trend in Staffing?April 29th, 2010 by adminAs if we haven’t endured enough in the United States, with the already perpetual drive to reduce the professional workforce to day laborers, we now have the crown jewel of stingy staffing known as “Crowd Sourcing”. In essence, firms will terminate the bulk of their employees and re-enlist them as independent contractors. In so doing, they wipe away their obligation to pay any sort of benefits and hire the workers only on as needed basis. Any contract attorney that has been sent home when the “docs ran out” knows the humiliation of this type of staffing. Over At Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis there is an excellent discussion of this new trend, citing IBM as an example. There is also a post from a former Intel employee, who lead the development of their outsourcing policy who was recently terminated and – you guessed it – outsourced. At least he got what he deserved! Also, there are some posts in Mish’s Forum that are worth reading. Level the Playing Field – Levy a Value Added Tax on Offshored ServicesApril 21st, 2010 by adminWith the huge layoffs in major employment sectors such as IT, Accounting and Legal (to name just a few), our Federal government has to step in and correct the trade imbalance with lower wage, emerging nations (e.g. India). As it stands now we are stripping out all of our middle class jobs and packing them off to India. The best way, I believe, to tackle this problem is to add a value added tax to all services performed by American companies in foreign nations. Thus all hourly service fees, manufactured goods, and other work product would be subject to a corrective VAT. This could be pegged to the currency rates of each country’s currency versus the dollar or could be a flat fee applied across the board. The only way to prevent outsourcing of American work overseas is to level the playing field. Emerging nations have no incentive to impair their citizens’ ability to find work (unlike our nation) and thus we have to take corrective action in order to save our way of life and standard of living. Otherwise, we will continue to wipe out the American Middle Class and leave only a precarious few at the top, some with decent paying government jobs and the rest scrapping around to make do, paycheck to paycheck. Instead of levying taxes on domestically produced products, it’s time to tax the offshore and outsourced production and allow American taxpayers to keep working and retain their standard of living. As it stands now, the lure of lower wages, the absence of OSHA, anti-discrimination, environmental and labor law is too strong. Each day brings more news of another company outsourcing its labor force to India, China or another low wage, sweatshop nation. If we do not do something, then all of our efforts at reducing pollution, establishing regulations and laws to protect workers and the environment will be rendered pointless. This would certainly bring a lot of chatter to international circles, including the WTO. But in the end, maybe it is time to abandon such organizations if they are one sided arrangements that constitute a gutting our middle class and destroying our way of life. If, as the outsourcing apologists contend, that outsourcing increases employment here in the United States, please point me to all of the jobs that outsourcing has created. I will happily post any such information here. Of course no one will reply, as many, many more jobs have been lost due to outsourcing than will ever be created stateside. Workers retrain at great expense only to find their new career to be outsourced as well. Former Reagan Official Slams Outsourcing as “Lose-Lose” for American WorkersApril 20th, 2010 by admin
He continues,
The author then details how outsourcing is causing the destruction of our middle class and dropping our nation from first to third world status. Exporting our technology also creates a national security risk. The upshot of the article is that the outsourcing of our economy is having disastrous effects here in America. Of course, anyone that has had their job outsourced already knows this. Winston Strawn E-discovery Partner Leaves for an LPOApril 20th, 2010 by adminThe tipping point grows closer. Winston Strawn equity partner David M. Hickey has defected from biglaw to an LPO. One would imagine that he is bringing his clients along from his former practice to his new position as CEO of this outfit. Sullivan and Cromwell gets Goldman Defense WorkApril 20th, 2010 by admin
Pangea3 Begins Outourcing Australian Attorney WorkApril 20th, 2010 by admin From the Movie, "Night of the Living Dead" (original) Rapidly growing legal process outsourcing outfit Pangea3 is truly seeing the world as one continent for its cut rate services. After gobbling up attorney work in the United States and the United Kingdom, Pangea3 is hungry for even more growth. The latest target for its globalization is the Australian Bar. It always starts with the messy “back office” work, which is quickly dispatched to India for purportedly humongous savings. How long before the gutting of the ranks of overpriced Australian biglaw associates begins? It always starts innocuously enough, but soon becomes a giant sucking sound with layoffs and competition for work with unlicensed Indian attorneys, whose services are offered at third world rates. From the Bar and Bench,
Much like zombies in Night of Living Dead, the first mindless converts having begun tearing the flesh from the Australian Bar. They’re coming to get you, Oz! Let’s hope they wake up down under and don’t sell out their profession the way the ABA has here in the USA. Outsourcing to India Shaken by Increase in “Malicious Activity”April 20th, 2010 by admin
Symantec’s 2009 Internet Security Threat Report reveals serious vulnerabilities in the growing outsourcing industry. From the April, 2010 Executive Summary, India is seeing a major uptick in malicious activity,
This is a serious threat, that could wreak havoc upon the entire Indian outsourcing enterprise. From an article in the UK edition of CIO,
It’s nice to see some objective, critical information being reported, rather the relentless shilling and hucksterism we so often have to endure. Detailed, objective reports by companies like Symantec should be taken seriously and factored into the cost benefit analysis one should perform before outsourcing. It’s not just about saving x dollars per hour on the cost of contract attorneys, there are many more hidden dangers and costs associated with conducting business in the emerging markets (including India) around the world than performing the same work stateside (or “backshore”). Hopefully this will be the beginning of a more realistic dialogue about outsourcing, including its inherent risks and weaknesses. Gizmodo – Test iPhone 4-G Leaked, New Device RevealedApril 20th, 2010 by admin |
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