Niyamath Parveez

The internet has quite clearly made the world seem like a smaller place. Connecting people with so many new communication channels and possibilities has made it easier for firms to interact with other companies and customers but that is hardly the tip of the iceberg. Many of the firms operating in developed countries will consider their cost of labor to be higher than what could be had in many developing countries around the world but working out how to channel and utilize this staff force is difficult. It can be an extremely bad PR move for any firm as it invariably involves placing some local based staff out of employment whilst hiring people from another country that is able to provide labor at a much cheaper rate. This is what is known as offshore outsourcing and has been a staple part of many firms’ international tactics in recent years. However, offshore outsourcing has generally seen jobs and departments move wholesale to a new country, perhaps with new offices being set up specifically for these jobs.

It is obvious to see why major firms with huge work forces will gain a benefit from this but smaller firms are unable to benefit from this. However, the internet has opened up the possibilities to employ a single person or very small team of staff, wherever a firm can find them. This means that no matter where in the world a potential employee is situated, they can be utilized to allow a firm to reduce their labor costs and save money.

There are web sites like the elance site which allows companies to advertise jobs they require to be filled and allow potential employees to tender for these jobs. This site, and many others, has dramatically changed the way that employers go about finding workers and fulfilling their work orders. The beauty of elance is that it is extremely simple for all parties to use the site and this is very useful for encouraging communication and shared workloads. A company will upload details of their job and interested parties can tender for the product, indicating the price they take for completing the job and the deadline with which they will complete the job in. It is possible for the tendering party to supply further information about their experience and credentials for fulfilling the job and there are additional tests than the tendering parties can undertake to offer some guarantee about their working experience. This provides a degree of confidence to the firms who are advertising the jobs and all customers will receive feedback, which also gives some form of indication about the quality of the work of a supplier. Once a winning bid has been accepted, the two parties can start sharing information about the job and it is possible for all parties to communicate directly through whatever mechanisms they choose, which can help speed up the process of outsourcing. If a firm has only infrequent jobs that they need completed in a short time, using an outsourcing site like elance is a fantastic way of working.