February 8th, 2005
Homeshoring: Tech jobs in mid-size America
News.com’s Ed Frauenheim reports that Bangalore, Shanghai and Singapore–as well as Silicon Valley–have new competition from smaller cities and rural areas of the United States…
A chief reason technology companies are turning to midsize cities and rural areas in the United States is their lower-wage work force. Employees there can be paid less than in today’s tech hubs, largely because the cost of living is much lower. For instance, a $400,000 home in Boston would cost about $69,000 in Oklahoma City, according to Coldwell Banker Real Estate. The cost of living in Twin Falls is 33 percent lower than in San Jose, Calif.–the heart of Silicon Valley.
Rural Sourcing claims that it can offer services such as application maintenance and Internet development for roughly 40 percent less than what other domestic technology outsourcers charge. Its fees are about the same as the overall cost of using an Indian outsourcer, according to White, if you consider factors such as communication costs, travel expenses and inconvenience.
Maybe CNN’s Lou Dobbs, who has been extremely vocal about outsourcing–what he calls corporate greed shipping American jobs overseas (he even wrote a book)–can take a breath…
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
