Thread regarding Nike Inc. layoffs

Outsourcing is not the easy answer to everything

Outsourcing jobs globally isn’t as easy as it sounds. With most “knowledge work” jobs there are a LOT of small cultural nuances involved that don’t translate well. I learnt this years ago at another company when we attempted to outsource some work to India. “It’ll be much cheaper”, management thought. Initially it was cheaper but the work product we received was substandard. Our Indian vendor had smart employees but those employees had zero ability to “think outside the box”. They worked almost like you’d expect robots to work. If there was ever even the smallest nuance or deviation needed from written specs they couldn’t problem solve to arrive at a solution.

Outsourcing is fine when you’re trying to make widgets. For the type of work most of us perform however outsourcing is much, much more challenging.

Bumped from @4miq+1iK0723A.

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| 1671 views | | 2 replies (last October 4, 2022) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1iVdaejD

2 replies (most recent on top)

This statement seems very naive...many years have passed since the 'outsource IT to India' stage, and this statement ignores that much has changed since then...

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Post ID: @7oyk+1iVdaejD

Totally agree. Some outsourcing now lacks institutional knowledge and background that is critical to the types of engagements they handle. I see the lack often but Nike seems okay to take that risk.

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Post ID: @5wyj+1iVdaejD

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