Outsourcing to Rural America 587
andy753421 writes "Wired is running an article about 'Rural Sourcing, an IT company that outsources not to India or Mexico, but rural America.' The company targets IT workers in rural location due to lower costs of living, 'The company charges $35 to $50 per hour for IT expertise, which may cost around $100 in New York City. While this is no match for outsourcing rates in India, clients benefit from local accents and similar time zones -- not to mention the absence of stigma sometimes attached to farming jobs out to foreign countries.' The article also points out several other innovative attempts at outsourcing such as Lakota Express and Seacode, which was previously covered on slashdot."
The Park Avenue Digitician (Score:5, Interesting)
The telecommute is murder (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd give anything to be outsourced to someplace I'd want to live, say New Mexico, Northern California. I like making a lot of money, but it just doesn't go that far in New Jersey, where property taxes are out of control and there are just too many people. I'd take a pay cut to live in some place that was quieter, with a lower cost-of-living. And in this day-and-age of telecommuting, why not? I suspect it would save companies a fortune just by not having to have huge amounts of office space and the environment would certainly be served by getting a large number of commuters off the road.
skills? (Score:3, Interesting)
I guess I'm a rural source (Score:5, Interesting)
So, I moved back to Arkansas and for 2 years I've been contracting out to one the largest software companies in the country. My rates are very competitive because my cost of living is far lower than what it would be in the D.C. area. I'm paying less for a large 3 bedroom house with a fenced in yard than I was paying for a small 2-bedroom apartment there. I get to have the slow-paced lifestyle that I was looking for and despite making less than I was in D.C., I'm saving quite a bit more.
Our group is also outsourcing to a company India and I'm under the impression that my rates are actually fairly competitive with theirs. I suspect there are a large number of people in this area that would work for rates that would be impossible to find in the D.C. area or other larger cities.
From a Coder in Rural America (Score:5, Interesting)
after years of dealing with india tech support (Score:0, Interesting)
That's how I got my current job. (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:The telecommute is murder (Score:4, Interesting)
Magically when you cross the border into PA, everything becomes more reasonable. I'd love to live in Stroudsburg or Bethlehem, but I work just outside Manhattan. I can't handle 120 miles round trip daily. Perhaps two or three times a week would work (there are buses!), but not every day.
I wish I could telecommute.
Re:Not far off. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:They really should (Score:4, Interesting)
That is certainly not the only reason that most people live in cities. Cities are generally more interesting places to live, and I'd rather take a studio in NYC over a mansion in Nebraska.
India outsourcing might have peaked (Score:4, Interesting)
This could mean that outsourcing might have peaked, at least for India.
Re:No revolution here (Score:5, Interesting)
"The World is Flat" (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:No revolution here (Score:5, Interesting)
This might be comparable to India (Score:3, Interesting)
That is a move from RTP, NC USA to Bangalore, India. RTP's cost of living is probably mid-way between NYC and BFE rural town pop. 600. A 2800 sqft house will run about $300,000 to $350,000. Don't expect a new house here for less than $300K but older smaller ones might be as cheap as $150K. Apartments run $700 to $1400 a month.
I would be willing to move to a smaller city if I could take my IT job with me.
Re:Not far off. (Score:1, Interesting)
Seriously though, you demonstrate an attitude that seems to pervade the coasts, that we here in flyover country are useless hicks....
BTW- Marrying your cousin is 100% legal in Calif, 100% illegal in Ohio.... Just an observation.
I just turned down and offer with Rural Sourcing (Score:1, Interesting)
The driving reason for declining their offer is that I just do not believe they will be able to keep smart graduates in Greenville, NC at that rate. There are just too many jobs on the east coast for IT workers. They are basically trying to hire my entire graduating class since I seriously doubt they will be about to coerce kids from coming from anywhere else.
On my second interview I was invited to their job site where I was shown the master plan for upgrading their cube-farm. They want to have 45 employees by next summer and 100 by Dec 2006! They have 12 now. I think they would be best to take a look at http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html [paulgraham.com] and consider hiring people based on need. If they had fewer employees they could offer better wages and have a ghost of a chance of keeping smart people in Eastern North Carolina. There's plenty of great evidence showing that smart programmers can consistently be 10 times more productive than average programmers. Here's just one link http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.
I am graduating from ECU (the university mentioned in the Wired Articles) this Decemeber and I believe that our program (although practically unheard of) is very competitive. Plenty of our graduates go on to be successfull just like other schools and some of our graduates find out that by not taking their career into their own hands they have effectively received a degree in Common Sense(tm). I'm afraid that Rural Sourcing's idea of trying to grab every graduate from ECU is going to be a disaster. The smart ones will go other places, the ones who have NO CHOICE will stay in Greenville and work at Rural Sourcing.
Re:Turnover??? (Score:2, Interesting)
There are more problems with small towns than are immediately obvious. Besides the fact that there are few stores, bars, and women, there are also few choices of where to work. I like my job, but I would be hard pressed to find a better one in the area. Anything else would be a step down or require a move. So they can get away with paying you in peanuts.
Re:Rural outsourcing (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that the development (outsourcing to remote areas) is a positive consequence in that it does allow wage arbitrage within the United States, which may help to reduce the pressure on urban areas as well as empower and enrich more remote communities where employment can be a hit or miss thing. Lose one of your majors, and the community suffers tremendously.
By broadening the possible options for labor and making them less dependent on things like geography, it will enrich and stabilize rural areas while giving a lower cost structure to businesses. Essentially, it is a "benefits of trade" type argument, only within the political boundaries of the US as opposed to a benefits of trade scenario involving different countries. It still involves multiple markets, and the differences between the markets can be exploited to create value on both sides of the equation.
Re:Don't forget language... (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.jigglethecable.org/node/139 [jigglethecable.org]
Re:Onshore outsourcing (Score:3, Interesting)
Your logic is flawed. You assume that when workers give away their rights, they earn jobs. The fact is that Europeans have been giving away their labour rights and lowering their quality of living, and the unemployement just gets worse. At the same time, corporations are getting absolute records in profits. And those are not being used to improve living or create jobs.
If you give the corporations your hand, they will demand your arm.
I find it funny that many people take the side of the corporations, even when themselves are being injured by them. Tell me, are you a boss?
Re:They really should (Score:2, Interesting)
Define "more interesting". Here in the country, I can hunt, fish, swim for free most of the year, go birdwatching, hiking (again for free), ice skating outdoors (again for free) when the weather permits, sledding, cross-country skiing, sailing, spelunking -- all within a five-minute drive of my house. There are movie theaters (with admittedly a slightly less diverse selection than in the city), a thriving local community theater with professional-caliber productions, trendy shops and coffeehouses (fewer of them, but no less "interesting" than your local Starbucks), used-book and used-music stores, high-quality ethnic restaurants (again, a slightly less diverse selection -- but just about anything we're missing here is only an hour's drive away), and the standard number of chain stores and fast-food joints.
I can also get farm-fresh eggs, fresh unpasteurized cider, freshly-butchered meat that hasn't sat in a refrigeration car for days to get to the grocery store, raspberries right off the cane, and more (and fresher) fresh produce than I ever saw living in the city.
In six years of living here, I have yet to find myself bored at all. So just what exactly about the city would be "more interesting"
Re:Pah! (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm from a backwards area (the Upper Penninsula of Michigan--which happens to have the same type of accent as Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin--you know, derivatives of the Fargo accent). I can tell you that I don't call people from my home territory backwards because they are Republicans, I call them backwards because they are behind the times on many, many issues. Despite some great high schools in the UP, there is still a devastating lack of good education (both primary and secondary) among residents, with widespread ignorance on many topics the result. There is almost NO culture to be found off the campuses of the two Universities worth mentioning (MTU, and NMU). There is little appreciation for art, theatre, music, etc. The economy is almost entirely reliant on manufacturing (mostly paper these days) and tourism, which means little in the way of infrastructure appropriate for small IP-oriented businesses. And finally, the horrible accent. Even UPers make fun of their accent (via "Say ya to da UP, eh?" bumper stickers).
That said, there is plenty to like about the UP, and there are plenty of people to like in the UP. There are many articulate, informed and cultured citizens. The land is plentiful and beautiful. The way of life is relaxed and simple. But none of this changes the fact that in a large portion of citizens there is rampant racism and homophobia, and you have to search hard for any semblance of culture.
Yes, I consider much of the UP to be backwards (ditto for Alabama and some grain-belt states). Am I a bigot? I don't think so. I appreciate the fact that not all people from the UP (or from the ghetto, for that matter) are the same. There is a difference between acknowledging the truths behind stereotypes and bigotry.
Taft
Re:Not far off. (Score:1, Interesting)