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| Down Under |
| Office work outsourced for $2 an hour over the internet |
| 2009-11-02 |
| PERSONAL assistants on the other side of the world are doing paperwork and administration for as little as $2 an hour for Queensland small businesses. Overseas outsourcing is being taken to a new level over the internet, with businesses turning to online contractors to perform everything from IT to bookkeeping and accounting. But the trend towards outsourcing, once the domain of big businesses such as banks, has alarmed unions and academics who fear it will slow wages growth and cost local jobs. "Australian workers should be concerned by any moves to offshore jobs to cut labour costs, not only because it means fewer job opportunities at home but it undermines wages and conditions here," an Australian Council of Trade Unions spokesman said. "There are also question marks over whether quality control can be maintained through offshoring, and businesses need to be open with their customers that work is being performed outside of Australia." Mike O'Hagan, who founded MiniMovers but now runs a small business as an international business speaker and mentor, says he has employed a personal assistant living in the Philippines through website odesk.com for the past year, at first paying $US2 ($A2.21) an hour but recently raising that wage to $US6 an hour. The PA handles personal correspondence, his calendar and other administrative duties and stays in contact via email. "That is eight times her local rate of pay," Mr O'Hagan said. "That's equal to about $4000 in Australia. She's one happy little Vegemite. "This is a job that I would have never employed an Australian to do. Being a worldwide business, I need a worldwide workforce. This is a massive change throughout the world. The world is just one big economy all connected together and that's a good thing, not a bad thing." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #2 That outsourcing thing works until it doesn't. Like many things it seems to be a great thing until something goes wrong. I suppose it depends how tolerant one is to an "Oh S**t" situation. In this case it seems as though this guy is a one man operation that would not have hired a PA locally in the first place. |
| Posted by: tipover 2009-11-02 15:18 |
| #1 "She's one happy little Vegemite." By George there's a phrase I'm going to learn to use. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-11-02 12:13 |