Note to foreigners: Don't chase outsourcing, chase innovation
My original thought for this entry came from this article:
Ireland Works to Stay in the Outsourcing Game
But over the past three years, the attractively low wages found in China, India and Eastern Europe have eclipsed Ireland's financial advantages, spurring many global companies to switch allegiances and scale back or cancel their plans for Irish operations.
The point was going to be don't be a source of cheap labor, but rather be a source of good brain power. Cheap begets cheap--if that's what you do, that's what you'll attract (to paraphrase Forrest Gump: innovative is as innovative does). America is an amazingly innovative country, in part because we have so many garages (topic for a future post), but also our culture and spirit of "can do" yankee ingenuity attracts innovative people from all over the world. It's a matter of mindset more than anything else--there are people in every corner of the world with the ideas and talent. More places should foster innovation rather than the status quo (a giant popping noise may result from many heads being removed from derrieres).
Reading on, Ireland got the hint:
Now Ireland is clawing back to reclaim its status as a major outsourcing destination by emphasizing its work force's brainpower and flexibility, instead of lower costs. A new government-sponsored marketing campaign touts the Irish labor force's ability to work at all levels of the business process, from factory floor to executive suite.
One final thought: that bit about not being the lowest cost provider, but rather having a labor force that can work at all levels, well, that's what America has, too. Look homeward!