Homeshoring

Many companies, especially in the USA and the UK, have moved jobs to countries such as India in which costs are lower, a process that's called offshoring. Not all such transfers have worked out, as a result of bad management decisions, poor service, and complaints from customers about difficulties in communication with overseas call centres. Some companies are starting to consider the potential of the increasing proportion of people who have broadband Internet connections into their homes. This permits staff to work from home on a semi-casual basis while being able to supply a high standard of service, because they know local conditions. Companies are reported as finding in some cases that costs are no higher in real terms than employing a worker in an Indian call centre. The term homeshoring has been coined for this in the USA, a word — and a technique — which is at the moment hardly known in the UK but which seems likely to catch on.

IDC said companies are turning to homeshoring in response to call center challenges such as the need for superior agent quality, frequent turnover and the seasonal nature of the business.

C-Net News 21 Dec. 2004

Domestic and international carriers are cutting costs by relocating these facilities to small U.S. communities, offshoring and nearshoring them outside the country’s borders and even home-shoring them into employees’ residences.

Commercial Property News, 1 Nov. 2004