|
Farmshoring is the shifting of employment from abroad into rural communities across the United States. It is conceptually similar to onshoring (also referred to as domestic outsourcing) which can be defined as "the act of transferring some of a company’s recurring interval activities and decision rights to outside providers, as set in a contract".〔World Trade Organisation, (2005), p266.〕 Farmshoring refers to a specific variety of outsourcing where, as well as services being sourced outside of the contracting company, they are outsourced from urban to rural locations. ==Farmshoring's details== Recent studies show that the trend to offshore jobs internationally has increased significantly over the last decade. Many factors have contributed to this rising trend, none more significant than the rising cost of doing business in the United States. In 2002, when the United States was trying to recover from recession, a number of reports emerged, highlighting the potential for substantial cost savings for firms which could source (outsource) some of their in-house supplies, particularly information technology services, to low-cost locations. In these reports, experts noted that given the advances in information technology and the low cost of communications, a large number of information technology (IT) services could now be provided from low income countries to firms and consumers in high income countries. A study conducted by The McKinsey Global Institute, an independent economics think tank within McKinsey & Company, revealed that 30 percent of the U.S. economy’s jobs can be offshored. Among the most "at-risk" occupations are office and administrative support jobs, business and financial operations, paralegal and medical workers, graphic designers, technical writers and software engineers. The objective behind farmshoring is to motivate U.S. firms to send those jobs that would otherwise be destined for places like China and India where labor costs are a fraction of what they are in the U.S., to the "American farm". The prime motivator behind offshoring is reduced labor costs and there is a significant gap between labor costs in developing countries vs. the US. For example, a U.S.-based software developer earning $60 an hour can be replaced by an Indian developer with the same skills for $6 an hour. Or, a factory worker making $21 an hour in the U.S. can be replaced by a Chinese factory worker making $.64 an hour. Though rural America cannot compete with such wages, experts believe that the “farm” presents a viable alternative, based on factors other than wages. Domestic outsourcing can deliver cost savings of 50 percent on installing and managing software, compared to 15 to 30 percent cost savings from overseas offshoring. Additionally, offshoring takes longer to capture cost savings, given the higher start-up costs and other issues associated with offshore arrangements. Security is a major issue with offshoring. In this sense, farmshoring offers a greater sense of control and security with the outsourced firm within U.S. borders. Onshore outsourcing also bypasses the language barrier associated with many offshoring arrangements. Workers in call centers in India for example, have to learn to speak English the “American” way to enter into outsourcing contracts with U.S. firms. With farmshoring, there are fewer cultural or language barriers, foreign laws and regulations or multiple time zones to deal with. Farmshoring also offers a low-cost, high quality living alternative to metro areas. Housing in metro suburbs is 70 percent more expensive than in rural areas, and land costs are even higher. In the same context, the traffic and congestion is significantly higher in metro areas (40 percent slower in metro areas), requiring metro residents to spend more time traveling to work as well as recreational activities. Farmshoring offers a lower-cost, lower-risk, and quality living alternative to outsourcing, enabling firms to obtain the cost benefits associated with outsourcing jobs to low-cost areas, without the risks associated with hiring foreign workers. As more of the economy processes information digitally, more firms are able to locate practically anywhere they can find skilled labor and advanced telecommunications infrastructure. For example, the U.S. Postal Service uses telecommunications technology that allows its workers in Greensboro, North Carolina to “view” mail in Washington, D.C. Likewise, Northwest Airlines has shifted some of its booking operations to Minot, North Dakota. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Farmshoring」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|