“I’ve decided to take advantage of outsourcing. My next novel will be written by a couple of guys in Bangalore, India.”
-Tom Robins
“The other part of outsourcing is this: it simply says where the work can be done outside better than it can be done inside, we should do it…”
Understanding the concept of outsourcing is no hard task when related to productivity, globalization, specialization and making the best of the resources at hand in any given business. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned quotes point to two undeniable facts of the outsourcing industry that are one in the same truth, existing as the two faces of the coin which are: Not all jobs are subject to being outsourced, and all of those that entail a specialized task or performance that can be made more efficient or productive outside, must be in consequence outsourced.
Mexico is no beginner when it comes to these kinds of companies, but does in fact differ greatly in terms of how the industry is understood and legally regulated. There has been a complete misperception (maybe not for all the right reasons) between outsourcing as understood elsewhere and attempting to subcontract the entirety of the workforce formerly employed by any given employer. Outsourcing companies in Mexico do not only exist as specialized businesses that provide specific tasks, but more over exist as businesses that contractually retain all employees as a third party “employers” attempting to rid original employers of all social security, tax and labor obligations. It is these practices that have been used at large and have created massive corporations with “cero employees” but with high contingencies and compliance issues. In the USA this can be easily understood and classified per the department of labor´s estimation about misclassification of employees and the financial, social and legal impact that this entails.
Unlike popular estimation, Mexican legislation does not frown upon this specific industry, in fact since 2012, Mexican Federal Labor Law was updated to include outsourcing and the rules by which it may be applicable. Actually, it could be argued that legislation promotes legitimate and old fashioned outsourcing in reasonable and valid occupations as stated by the three simple rules that concern this matter:
- The entirety of the workforce may never be subcontracted.
- Outsourcing any given job may be acceptable only due to specialization.
- Outsourced Jobs may not be similar or identical to those carried out in the...
