Offshoring.
The topic for today is ‘’ offshoring ’’.
Task 1
Read the text below to get the general idea:
Many companies are now setting up branches or divisions abroad so they
can provide various services at much lower costs than in their home countries.
Approximately 1/3 of jobs in the USA is said to be transferred to India saving up
to 60% of overheads for American corporations. Nowadays, offshoring is
becoming more and more popular also as a form of downsizing.
What exactly is meant by offshoring? Basically the term applies to the
relocation of business processes done at a company, such as technical
assistance or back-up office services for instance, from one organizational unit
in a country to another branch or to a division in a different place abroad.
Offshoring can be viewed in terms of either production or services, but it is
primarily aimed at cost reduction and improving overall corporate profitability.
By hiring offshore staff, which is well educated but much cheaper, companies
reduce overheads and become more efficient. An advance in telecommunications
has allowed the possibilities of doing business and providing services of high
quality in distant places almost 24/7.
Offshoring is sometimes misinterpreted or misused in order to describe a
situation in which some internal processes from one business entity are moved
to an external, usually independent, organization. It is then called outsourcing.
At present, companies primarily tend to outsource accounting or help-desk
services, but not only.
Another term related to offshoring is bodyshopping. It simply means
headhunting on the spot or making the use of workforce resources and
personnel available on the local job market.
A further word associated with offshoring is nearshoring, which implies
the relocation of business activity to a lower cost region but in a close
geographical proximity.
Offshoring is becoming prevalent in America whereas in Europe it is still
less popular.
Task 2.
Study the text carefully and gap fill the sentences below with suitable words:
1. In short, ……OFFSHORING…… is doing the work overseas while
………OUTSOURCING……… is doing the work for us.
2. Services and jobs are now …TRANSFERRED…… to less expensive
locations to increase profits and reduce maintenance costs.
3. There are some companies which specialize in
………RELOCATING……. businesses from one place to another.
4. Another way of saying that a company is in the process of employing
local people is ……BODYSHOPPING………
5. By definition, a ……BRANCH/DIVISION…. is a local part of a bigger
company.
6. Hostile takeovers take place when foreign corporations start to interfere
with ……..INTERNAL….. affairs.
7. Annual audits in most companies are conducted by ….EXTERNAL….
and fully independent groups of professionals.
8. Companies with smaller capital might consider ….NEARSHORING… as
an interesting alternative for the future.
9. Money spent regularly on rent, building maintenance, insurance and other
operating costs is called …….OVERHEADS…..
10. If you seek my approval, you need to ….BACK UP….. your statement
with solid facts and statistics.
Task 3
Watch the video ‘’ Offshore moves beyond …‘’ and mark the sentences below as
true (T) or false (F):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7efQXc1aHY0
Offshore services are mostly associated with call centers.
……….(T)
Voice operating services are less needed than in the past.
……….(T)
White-collar workers are being shipped offshore at present.
……….(F)
Typical call centers are disappearing because of smartphone apps. ...(T)
Accounting is not provided by offshore skilled workers.
……….(F)
IBM has been providing IT services in Australia for less than a decade
now.
……….(T)
7. Singapore and New Zealand are the major centers of outsourcing.
……….(F)
8. Offshore staff is usually less skilled and not very motivated in comparison
to Australian employees.
……….(F)
9. Australian companies look for highly skilled workers abroad. ……….(T)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
10.Trade unions in Australia strongly oppose the idea of offshoring.
……….(T)