Marriot call centers consolidate & send more workers home

Marriot may be closing its Salt Lake City call center, but they're hiring home-based workers to pick up the slack. Marriott has been working with a virtual call center for a while now, but they are now restructuring to catch up with technology. People just aren't making as many phone calls with the internet being so widespread, and they don't need huge call centers anymore.

Employees were laid off, which is unfortunate, but Marriott says they will be giving former employees priority for the new work-at-home positions. There's an article about it in the Deseret Morning News.

Homeshoring Company Hiring in Canada - Rural Ex

It's an exciting time for homeshoring - everywhere. It seems that new companies are popping up all over - especially in Canada. RuralEx, a new teleservices provider in Saskatoon, actually has based its whole model on homeshoring.


"Weber is planning to tap into a somewhat forgotten workforce with the launch of his new company. The entrepreneur believes the work from home services provided by RuralEx, such as technical support, outbound marketing and market research, will appeal to stay-at-home parents, the recently retired, rural workers reluctant to travel for work and people with mobility challenges. Starting with 25 out-of-office positions, Weber hopes to expand his in-home workforce to 100 employees by the end of the year..."

There's an article on the business venture here. And a link to current openings here.

UK homeshoring news

Good news for people that want to work from home in the UK - several companies have finished their pilot programs and are migrating to the homeshoring model.

"Accelerate Nottingham and Connecting Bristol and- technology programmes supporting their respective councils - are using the idea of home and flexible working to create employment in call centres for disenfranchised members of their communities, they told attendees of the Mobile and Flexible Working in the Public Sector conference in London yesterday."

Read more about these new UK homeshoring opportunities here.

News, News, News - and an apology

First, the news.... We're really aching to get our hands on the newspaper articles that are circulating about The Little White Ebook of Homeshoring Jobs - so if you happened onto our website from somewhere in North Dakota, please let us know! From what we understand, the community newspapers that published the articles don't have websites, so the only way to get a copy is to ask our readers! We'll make it worth your while, I promise!

We are also running another contest - this time alongside I've Tried That. You can win a copy of our ebook and theirs by registering and participating in their forum. It's worth it, especially if you hate all those work from home scams and "systems". They have a loyal following with MyPowerMall refugees that always makes for interesting reading - funny stuff, but kind of shows how the online Amway crowd works.

Finally, we are behind on just about everything, including emails and phone calls. Michael is out of town but will be back in town shortly to help me sort through it all. We've gotten a lot of press recently and it's hard to keep up! So, please be patient, if you emailed with a question, we'll get to you before next Monday. (When I got to an email sent by a reporter at CNN that had somehow landed in my spambox, I almost had a heart attack. So, please, please be patient. As of now, we are still a two-person operation with a small freelance staff, and sleep deprivation makes us kind of loopy...)

Thanks!

Great video! Scam-proof!

This YouTube video is a great spoof of all the "online systems" that "teach you" how to get paid to read emails, blogs, and, well, all the other crap that you could easily learn on your own. Don't you love it when you come across a sales pitch with vague descriptions of what you'll get, a long list of bonuses, and claims that don't even really make any sense? "Gabe and Max's Internet Thing" will make your day.

A link to a long list of work from home telecommuting jobs

I know there are a lot of websites with lists like this - but we came across this one from Persistant Sue that's just been updated. Keep in mind that this list is unsorted and each company offers various home based positions. You'll want to do your research before applying. Enjoy!

Interesting information about the homeshoring model

We came across a term paper that traces the origins of homeshoring back to its roots at JetBlue Airways.

It provides an interesting perspective and look into JetBlue's hiring and training practices, especially if you are interested in applying for one of their home-based jobs.

Offshoring the NEWS?

If you haven't heard the controversy, here's a story about it. Basically, the Miami Herald was going to ship its copyediting and other pre-production processes overseas in an effort to save some cash.

When are we send too much offshore? How would you feel about your daily being print and run in a country overseas?

Shouldn't American news be American news?

Hilton reservations move their call center employees home

Hilton Reservations, based in Illinois, is closing its call center. But that doesn't mean the people that work there are out of a job.

Workers have the option of keeping their jobs and becoming a part of the virtual workforce.

To smooth the transitions for their workers, Hilton will provide $250 and an allowance for high-speed Internet service to allow employees to work from their homes. Pay rates will not change.

600 people across the US work for Hilton Reservations taking phone calls from their home. The call center in Illiois closing reflects their dedication to the new virtual call center model.

Here's more information about the Illinois call center.

Virtual Assistant Blog Hopping :-) ebook

There's a fun new ebook out that should be a great resource for small business owners and others interested in the virtual assisting businesses. Sharon Williams, a professional VA, spent 45 days "blog hopping" - answering questions from people around the world. She's turned the Q & A into an Ebook.

2007 Virtual Assistant Blog Hopping and Podcast Tour hits the virtual shelves this week.

The new eBook recounts Williams' virtual 45-day trip around the Internet as she visited different blogs and podcasts, responding to 200+ questions about the Virtual Assistant Industry and its annual online convention. She stopped in Australia, Canada, the US, England and other countries, virtually, providing insight regarding the industry's history, technology trends, benefits of working with VAs -- anything blog readers and podcast listeners wanted to know about one of the fastest growing home-based businesses of the 21st century.

A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an entrepreneur providing administrative and other business support services to business owners, remotely. "Savvy small business owners as well as overworked and overwhelmed solopreneurs can now delegate back office, mundane and non-income generating tasks to more than 20,000 work-from-home admin. specialists, while they concentrate on responsibilities that fuel their passion."

Many participants were interested in learning how to build a successful VA practice. Others wanted answers to questions, such as, "Isn't working with a VA more expensive than hiring an employee?"; and, "How can I be confident that a VA who specializes in my industry won't share my business ideas with other clients?" Ms. Williams used the tour to respond to these and similar inquiries from emerging, aspiring and veteran VAs as well as Web-based business owners.

The tour was, and will continue to be an opportunity to educate executives and entrepreneurs about the advantages of working with VAs," states Ms. Williams. It covers many topics including pricing, promotion, marketing, networking, niches, branding -- just about any topic a small business owner and/or VA would be interested in exploring about the virtual assistance industry.

Sounds like a fun project with some interesting insight. Go check it out.

Outsourcing, Offshoring and Homeshoring

A new study by Brown-Wilson Group came out today regarding people's political preferences and beliefs about offshoring and outsourcing, revealing that offshore outsourcing would be a key decision factor in selecting their 2008 presidential candidate.

"Of the 3,000 Democrats, more than half (55%) of voters see offshore outsourcing as unpatriotic, a significant decrease from October 2004 when 93.9% of voting Democrats felt offshoring was anti-American. In the Super Tuesday collection of states, 84% of Democrats believe offshore outsourcing is unpatriotic. Less than 7.9% of Republicans viewed offshoring as unpatriotic in 2004 and 6.5% in 2008."

People apparently have a bit of difficulty defining the difference between offshoring and outsourcing. (Homesourcing and homeshoring are not words that are actually used in the article, which may be a part of the confusion.)

If you're unsure about the differences between these terms, here's the difference:

Outsourcing is the act of paying somebody, who does not work as a W-2 employee for your business, to complete a task. Virtual assistants, home-based telemarketers, and countless other contractors fulfill this task.

Offshoring is the act of moving these same types of functions overseas, to foreign workers, in countries where the labor is typically less expensive.

Homeshoring or homesourcing is the act of outsourcing these types of functions within your own country, typically to telecommuting personnel or independent contractors.

It's a shame that the word "homeshoring" is not used in these study results. Especially since the press release mentions public dissatisfaction with the views of the candidates. Homeshoring creates options for a whole other workforce, is environmentally friendly, and is considered to be an economical alternative that can help companies grow their businesses.

It would be really cool to hear some of the current presidential candidates give some praise to companies like LiveOps, Working Solutions, and Alpine Access. They're truly innovative businesses that are helping Americans keep their jobs no matter what their physical constraints. Homeshoring is one of the "most patriotic" outsourcing models around. When is the media and the government going to sit up and take notice? It would be nice to hear about tax breaks for some of these innovative employers.

Homeshoring company Alpine Access is hiring in tennessee

Alpine Access has announced that they will be hiring 100 new agents in the state of Tennessee. They're a great company to get started working from home with - they hire W-2 employees, not independent contractors. Visit their website to apply for one of these virtual positions.

Here's the link: Alpine Access

Global outsourcing to grow 8.1 % in 2008

But we're not sure if that's a good thing. Gartner says that it's mostly outsourcing to India and other countries. However, as companies becoming dissatisfied with the negative consequences of outsourcing, expect homeshoring to take off even more.

Many of the comopanies we've profiled plan on hiring additional workers in 2008, and we're sure that's a trend that will continue for a while.

Updates coming soon

We're hitting the 200 company mark for The Little White Ebook of Homeshoring Jobs. A new release will be out this Friday. we're excited - and you should be, too! And next week, The Little White Ebook of Admin jobs will be sent to ClickBank for final approval. Hooray!

Homeshoring in Canada

A new company is hiring in what is apparently considered a rural area - Thunder Bay.

The article on it definitely reflects a local flavor. "The Conference Board of Canada may not think Thunder Bay is an attractive city for investment but his company begs to differ and has major expansion goals. Telantek plans to expand into the region over the next couple of years, hiring close to 200 employees." So, I guess if you happen to know somebody in the Thunder Bay area, there's a new employer in town and you can work from home. :-)

SUPERWAHM Contest, and interesting information on LiveOps.

We've partnered with SuperWAHM.net to sponsor a giveaway...go visit the blog to learn how to win a free copy of The Little White Ebook of Homeshoring Jobs.

In an article about LiveOps in today's Houston Chronicle, there's an interesting story about a few women in Georgia are suing because they believe that they are employees and entitled to a minimum hourly wage. (LiveOps pays by the minute, not the hour and all employees are independent contractors.)

It will be interesting to see how this case plays out. On one hand, it could mean higher wages for home-based contractors. On another, it could mean more companies will be reluctant to hire home-based agents in the future for fear of being sued.

Unless your employer is a discriminating or demeaning jerk, I have also thought it was better to find a new job then haggle for something they weren't able or willing to give.

If you're not making enough money, it's a great time to find a new job. And there are plenty of other work from home opportunities out there.

It's a Wonderful Job

Award-winning national columnist, Dane Dauten, created an ebook for the unemployed. Nobody wanted to pubkish it because they swore the unemployed have no money. Hos solution? He converted it to an audio book and an ebook and lets folks download it for free from his website.

Need some inspiration in your job hunt? Get It's a Wonderful Job. It's free right here.