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.