Homesourcing also known as homeshoring is "the transfer of service industry employment from offices to home-based employees with appropriate telephone and Internet facilities". [1] Homeshoring is best thought of as a combination of outsourcing and telecommuting. Outsourcing is Subcontracting a process such as product design or Manufacturing, to a Third-party company Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH, or working from home (WFH is a work arrangement in
Homesourcing refers to hiring employees or engaging independent contractors. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An independent contractor is a Natural person, Business or Corporation which provides goods or services to another entity under terms Homesourced workers are sometimes required to come to an office for training from time-to-time.
Traditionally, employers were most likely to homeshore call-centers and other customer service processes. However, this trend is changing as employers realize a wider variety of work is amenable to homeshoring. Knight Ridder Newspapers reports "it's no longer just call centers and information-technology jobs. For the unrelated television series see Knight Rider. For other articles see Knight Rider (disambiguation Knight Ridder Now it's architects, accountants, tax preparers and financial analysts. "[2]
According to researcher IDC Homesourcing is expanding by about 20% a year and homesourcing is "on track to explode". [3]
Contents |
Companies using homesourcing
US companies which have employed homesourcing personnel include:
| Firm | Based | Founded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-800-Flowers.com[4][5][6] | |||
| Alpine Access[3][4][5][6] | Golden, Colorado | 1998 | |
| Arise Virtual Solutions formerly WillowCSN[3][5][7] | Miramar, Florida | 1997 | |
| J. Crew[5] | |||
| JetBlue Airways[4][5][6] | |||
| LiveOps[3][5][6] | Palo Alto, California | 2000 | |
| LiveXchange[3][5][6] | Toronto, Canada | 2002 | |
| McKesson[5] | |||
| oDesk[3] | Sunnyvale, California | 2003 | |
| Office Depot[4][5][6] | . JCrew Group ( is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in New York, New York. oDesk is a company with a global job Marketplace and a series of tools targeted at businesses that intend to hire and manage remote workers. Office Depot ( is a supplier of office products and services The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines computers computer software and office | . | |
| UnitedHealth Group | . UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is a Managed health care company | . | |
| The Vermont Teddy Bear Co. [4] | |||
| West Corp[3][8] | Omaha, Nebraska | 1986 | |
| Working Solutions[3][4][5][9] | Plano, Texas | 1996 | |
| Wyndham International[4] | . Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is a concatenation of chains of Hotels and Resorts located mainly in the United States and Canada, but also in | . | |
| USassistant. com | Connecticut | 2006 | |
Advantages of homesourcing
- Worker preference – homesourced workers often need to work from home or strongly prefer to work from home. They appreciate this opportunity, and therefore are loyal.
- Reduced costs for the employer as homesourced workers often provide their own telephone equipment and computer systems. Employer also saves on cost of office space.
- Using homesourced workers that are local to the area where they are calling precludes the prejudice that is sometimes created from regional accents, mannerisms and rates of speech.
- Possible tax advantages for the worker using part of their home for business purposes.
In popular culture
- An early example of homesourcing in fiction can be found in the 1939 Heinlein book For Us, The Living. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. For Us The Living A Comedy of Customs is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A The character of Diana, a nationally-renowned dancer, is shown performing in her own home for a broadcast audience, which sees her dancing on sets added by the broadcasting company to her original feed. The mechanism for this homesourcing is not described technically, but it appears to be similar to a high-definition video signal interfaced with something like modern chroma key technology. Chroma Key is the name under which ex- Dream Theater Keyboardist Kevin Moore records
See also
- Human Capital
- Information technology consulting
- Offshoring IT Services
- Outsourcing
- The World Is Flat
Notes
- ^ New words. Human capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce Economic value. Information technology consulting ( IT consulting, technology consulting or business and technology services) is a field that focuses on advising businesses Offshore may refer to oil and Natural gas production at sea see Oil platform. Outsourcing is Subcontracting a process such as product design or Manufacturing, to a Third-party company The World Is Flat A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century is an international bestselling book by Thomas L Macmillan English Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-10-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople
- ^ Hall, Kevin G. (December 05 2006). "Homeshoring Grows: Companies Cut Costs by Shipping Jobs to Workers' Homes". Knight Ridder.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Who's Helping Homeshore Workers? For people interested in jobs that allow flexible hours at home, here are some companies that specialize in matching workers with employers" (May 2 2006). Business Week. IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG). International Data Group ( IDG) is a technology media research and event management organization [1]
- ^ a b c d e f g "Call center agents ...without the call centers Need customer service? Increasingly, callers connected to home-based workers" (May 7 2005). Associated Press. The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Call Centers In The Rec Room "Homeshoring" takes off as moms and others provide an alternative to offshoring" (January 23 2006). Business Week.
- ^ a b c d e f Brewer, Melissa. The Little White eBook of Homeshoring Jobs. Capital Creative, Inc. 213 pages, listing 179 organizations
- ^ Brewer, page 40
- ^ Brewer, page 185
- ^ Brewer, page 187
Further reading
- Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century 2005 ISBN 0-374-29288-4
External links
- Lacy, Sarah (May 2 2006). "Homeshoring: Beyond Call Centers Silicon Valley startup oDesk helps companies find -- and monitor -- at-home labor for a growing roster of jobs". Business Week.
- "Working at home pays off for firms" . telecomchoices. org.
- Mello Jr. , John P. . "Home-Sourcing vs. Offshoring It's not all about price; allowing people to work at home leads to a virtuous cycle of productivity.". CFO. com.
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