by Francis
(October 06, 2012)
Many people think that Outsourcing is a bad thing, that it is unmoral or unethical. In my opinion, no tool or business strategy is unmoral by itself. It’s how you use it that makes it good or bad.
So how can you make Outsourcing ethical?
The main cause which will make your outsourcing efforts more morally right is that the person that you hire, a freelancer, is happy with his payments. Not only happy because he receives any sort of compensation, but because he receives a compensation that is correct, appropriate for his work and lets him live well.
In my opinion, if an entrepreneur is internet savvy enough to hire someone from a country with lower cost of living like India or the Philippines, then it’s due to his smarts that he is paying low hourly rates than e.g. US.
It doesn’t make it unmoral as long as he doesn’t go too low with his payments for Indian freelancers either especially since in European or American countries, the cost of living is higher. It is very much possible to hire someone from a poor country for a wage that is not only affordable but generous.
You’ll benefit from this twice. First, your virtual assistant will stay very faithful to you and to your work. Second, you will do something moral. And if anyone criticizes your outsourcing efforts, then you can always argue with them that you pay them much more than elsewhere.
For those people who still criticize that this is unmoral, I suggest that the reason for the difference of costs of living are more complicated than one person could resolve. Globalization or political issues, their scopes are too big to discuss here, are the reasons behind all of this.
It’s not one entrepreneur who can change this alone. What he can change is how he treats his outsourced helpers. That’s his responsibility.
If you agree or disagree, I would love to hear from you in the comments!
Comments for How to Make Outsourcing Ethical?
| Dec 08, 2013 | Disagreeing comment by an anonymous visitor A visitor sent me a very insightful and thought-provoking message. Here is what he wrote: Business and charity are not the same thing. Anyone who takes a $1/hr job, by necessity of their choice, is better off than they would have been without it. If you want to alleviate the poverty that creates these market conditions, donate the appropriate charities. This will address the long-term issues driving low-wage conditions. Paying a wage above market price is neither an effective nor sustainable solution to anything but making the employer feel better about himself. I believe there is much truth in what this visitor wrote. However, I believe doing an assistant good by paying him in a way that he effectively can say: “this pays me more than any local job AND is fun work!” is something good. I never had the motivation to “save the world through outsourcing”. That’s just not realistic and silly. But I do believe that one can do good for the people in your immediate surroundings. including your VAs. |
| Jul 17, 2014 | not immoral, not unethical–it’s business-wise I would like to share my two cents. For me, Outsourcing had never that hint of immoral and unethical issue (for me). But, if you pay below the average of your outsourced task, than that would be the time it is unethical. Yes, cost-of-living plays along with it. And if you can get a satisfactory outcome with 1 to 2 dollar an hour, why would you pay for a costly 20 to 30 dollar? I think it’s just business-wise and there’s nothing with immorality or unethical 😀 |
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