How My World Was Flattened

A few weeks ago I was in the Denver airport with a handful of people that I had never met. They were college students from all over the country who, for the next two and a half days, had the same goal: to impress our hosts enough that they would want to hire us as employees for their company. As we were meeting new people, mingling, and trying to look like we had adequate social skills I was asked an interesting question after announcing that my major was IT. This student asked how I felt that all of my jobs were being sent out to China and India and how I expected to keep a job. I was shocked by the question. The goal of my education was to create myself in to such a desirable product that some great company would invest heavily in harvesting and honing my skills. But this student suggested that all I had done up to that point might be worth less than I expected, perhaps it was cheaper to entrust my job with someone in India or China.

I didn't quite know how to answer so I snickered while trying to hide a sudden concern for my career and said hey, I'm not worried, it's not like I'm going for a call center job or something. But deep down I wondered if he might be right. Is my job in danger of being outsourced or offshored?

Fortunately I was not doomed to wear such bleakly tinted glasses for long. I did not know much about offshoring and outsourcing but as I read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman I began to learn more and more of what it means to me. So armed with much more knowledge I can answer that question I was asked in Denver.

No, I am not afraid of my job being given to the highly skilled Indian or Chinese worker. It is true that these international workers can do many jobs that we do, but cheaper. Companies are seeing this and they are investing in this workforce. But that doesn't mean that they will fire me. On the contrary, they will need me even more. That is because those extra workers are increasing our productivity, output and changing the market. As they do that work from a distance there is so much more for us to do here at the home front. They are creating more work for me to do.

But this is not all. You might still wonder why a company would keep me around to do what the cheap labor is doing. The thing is I wont be doing what they can do anymore. As they pump out all of this work, I will be growing and adapting to the change they are making in the market. I will no longer be doing the same thing that they are doing. I feel that one of my biggest strengths is that I am able to learn. I have used my time in college to learn how to learn. I am very good at learning new things as obstacles are placed in my way. I am adaptable and can shift in this dynamic market.

As the world flattens and markets shift, new opportunities arise. Industries exist now that never would have been imagined ten or fifteen years ago. I will be in the middle of this continual change and growth and will have all of the benefits of the flat world at my disposal. I am not afraid of my job being given to cheap laborers in 3rd world countries. I am eager to take the reins of these new markets. So as we outsource, my opportunities will only grow, as long as I grow with them.

That is what Thomas Friedman taught me about my job. This is what I look forward to as a graduate with a degree in Information Technology. This is why I am not afraid of my career being outsourced.