Outsourcing is the contracting of outside services that’ll help complete specific duties inside a company.
Now, in the current state of things, it seems difficult to comprehend the evolution of outsourcing. After all, how were businesses supposed to thrive the way they’re doing now without the professional aid of a qualified team provided by an outsourcing company? Puzzling, I know.
In a business scene that is currently moved by the hiring of outside companies to manage even the smallest of tasks, this employment method wasn’t always in the picture.
In fact, it stayed out of the frame for decades on end, but why’s that? It wouldn’t even be recognized as a proper marketing strategy up until the ‘80s; and to this day, some people may still agree that the arrangements of these kinds of services are controversial, to say the least — place a pin in this idea, we’ll get back to it later.
So, how did this particular exception rapidly become the rule? In this article, we’ll talk about that. We’ll go over the evolution of outsourcing as a valid business practice. To put it simply, our main goal will be to answer the following question:
How did outsourcing go from an unnamed enactment to becoming the absolute business juggernaut that it is now?
To quote Dr. Carl Sagan: “You have to know the past to understand the present”, meaning we have to go way back to understand the evolution of outsourcing. Yes, way back.
Industrial Revolution And The Early 20th Century
Before the 19th Century, outsourcing services didn’t exist as a reasonable, well-grounded tool. Seeking outside assistance was very rare, if not nonexistent. Any work that needed to be done within a business would be hired in-shore, and to work directly for the company in question.
But when the 19th Century rolled around, the Industrial Revolution came with it. During this period of time, full-blown factories were being built from the ground up, which could only mean one thing: businesses boomed. The whole professional landscape, as it had been known prior to this era, completely shifted.
The amount of work done by most (prolific) companies just increased exponentially; most workers jumped ship and joined those corporations that ensured them a steady income, as opposed to those small businesses that didn’t, but in spite of all these revolutionary and fast-paced changes within the business world, outsourcing still wasn’t a recognizable strategy. Hard to believe, isn’t it?
One would assume that with the overwhelming amount of work that needed to be done, business owners would immediately look for a way to optimize costs as much as possible, even if business schemes weren’t as developed as they are now.
Yes, there were a couple of independent engineering, architecture, and law firms opening up their doors and offering their services to multiple clients, but all of the work was settled within the same region. Remote work was still uncharted territory.
Manufacturing
With the appearance of automatic machinery that had just risen as a product of the Industrial Revolution, modern outsourcing would start to shape up into the powerhouse that it is now.
As time went by, business owners realized that they could subcontract the production of consumer goods. Things like clothing items, toys, home appliances, furniture, and sports equipment would start to be massively produced off-shore. Overseas, even.
Then, during the decades of the ‘70s and ‘80s, a new term for this kind of work was born: outside resourcing, or outsourcing. It wouldn’t be until 1989 that famous Austrian consultant Peter Drucker started explaining this concept in his Wall Street Journal, “Sell the Mailroom”.
This method helped companies reduce costs in the assembly of products, and it brought many other benefits. I could go on and on talking about those many additional benefits of hiring outsourcing companies, but we’ve talked about them before, and I’m sure you’ve heard about them plenty of times, too. But just as a quick reminder:
- Cost Optimization
- Reliability
- Performance Enhancement
- Increase in Productivity and Service Quality
These are only a few advantages that come along with the hiring of outsourcing services, so, can we blame executives for trying it out? I don’t think we can. We would all recur to the same thing if we were in their position.
Modern Outsourcing Services
Quite the big leap between each time period, I know, but now that we’re here, let’s talk about how outsourcing gets carried out in the modern era.
We live in a digital world, which means that most activities can now be conducted through a computer.
All that we need is a trustworthy PC and a reliable Internet connection that’ll allow us to contact clients. Once we have the necessary skills, we just need to get out there and use them.
“What kind of services can we currently outsource?” is not the correct question we should be asking, instead, the right one would be: “What kind of services can we currently NOT outsource?” — that’s just how big a role outsourcing plays in the modern professional life. Here at Freelance Latin America, we know how it is.
Countless positions that are now the norm amongst every business’ hierarchy can be hired through outsourcing. From Community Managers to Content Creators, Data Coordinators, Software Testers, IT Personnel, and Recruitment Specialists… the list goes on, of course, and so does the number of benefits that come with it.
Controversy in Outsourcing
Alright, before I forget: this is the thought I wanted to be left on hold at the beginning of the article, but why did I? You may ask.
Believe it or not, some people still see outsourcing as a mustache-twirling villain who’s ready to snatch employment opportunities away instead of damsels. The He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named of our professional lives. Very outdated thoughts, I say.
Certain people prefer viewing the contract of outsourcing services as something their community “lost”, but is it really that bad? It can’t be. Without outsourcing, most world-renowned companies wouldn’t be where they are today, and when the day comes to an end, these huge enterprises will generate jobs both in-shore and off-shore.
Now, are you interested in giving outsourcing a try? Post your project here and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. You won’t be disappointed.
See more articles by Jenaro Perdomo
