Should I ‘ride the wave’ and join the new company and culture ☀
I think I’ve written this article several times already. As an IT (though when I started, IT was called “data processing”) veteran, I’ve experienced repeated occurrences of this scenario. Why any younger worker would prefer to persevere in the corporate work-sphere in lieu of forging an alliance with a few others and make a go of software startup (like for example, David and Marco of Tumblr) honestly baffles me. But if you’re going to endure the vagaries of big company IT realms, I’ll share some insight on what will go down as the outsourcing process unfolds along with some survivor guidelines gleaned from my 20+ years of professional experience.
First, here’s what to look out for when the outsourcing bell is announced:
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Group morale will sink heavily. Your coworkers will congregate in offices and corridors, to bicker, complain, speculate, etc.… on what’s happening. Aggregate productive work output will suffer a heavy decline. There will be more goofing off and frequent bouts of sulking. For most of the crew, that is, as a few spirited individuals will see it as their opportunity to drive a wedge between themselves and the rest of the team.
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Your employer will lie to you about your future prospects. It may be done intentionally or your honest manager will be deceived by her superior. It might be soft equivocations or bold untruths. You might be subjected to a cascading array of deception:
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“This outsourcing will only affect consultants…”
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“We’re cutting back by attrition — only new positions will be filled via outsourcing…”
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“Only application support is affected, application development will remain onshore…”
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The actual “official” outsourcing date will be delayed, or at least selected positions will exist past the “cutoff date”. That communal feeling of workplace malaise lingers for an indefinite term. Rumors will swirl of changing course of events, but once charted, it’s basically a done deal. Contracts have been signed and marketing representatives and company executives have already feasted on commission spoils. Not that executive levels are immune to the axe — but they, however, will be given a far cushier parachute.
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As part of the bargaining process, the outfit that is the outsourcing “recipient” typically is compelled to take on some of the existing staff. This is not compulsory to the forged agreement, but in the negotiation dance, they will be putting their best “we’re all one family together now” foot forward. Internally, however, the outsourcing provider is not interested the company’s employees (or their star contract workers), and will aim to dump most all of them after a year of beginning the new work arrangement.
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Ultimately, there will be more workers, but less skilled workers. And anytime an outsourced worker shows a spark, it’s likely that he’ll be shuffled onto another team. The outsourcing firm on such endeavors becomes akin to a body shop, a career launching pad for younger workers who gain needed experience, then jump ship to employment offering higher pay or more exciting projects.
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The outsourcing firm’s loyalty is to its bottom line, not to the company they perform service for. The distinction is vital. Sure, both company and hired firm will hum a common refrain about being a happy family all in it together, no matter the color of the badge. Truth is, the outsourcing provider’s goal is to earn money for the fruits of their labor while the outsourcer strives to keep costs down yet maintain the work load. These are frequently not congruent aims. The “outsourcee” will preserve the “status quo” and perform the bare minimum necessary. It means a lot of silly putty and superglue, as opposed to addressing deep systemic problems. Of course, that was usually a problem, too, before the advent of outsourcing. But it becomes magnified, especially when the folks that framed the contract requirements and service level agreements have no clue about the art and science of crafting, deploying, and maintaining software. The outsourcing provider may discover that fulfilling their contract is actually causing them to be a net financial loser. Then, they will cut corners in other nefarious ways.
Now, some pointers for those of you about to encounter this occupational turn of events:
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Resist the urge to go along the kibitzing crowd. As long as you’re receiving a paycheck, continue to provide quality service in the best spirit you can muster. It may be difficult, but it’s the best path to pursue — plus, it will keep you sharp, and the days won’t drag on as much as they would if you succumb to slacker temptation.
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Invest in yourself and keep adding to your skills toolbox. The career path concept our parents existed in is now long past. No longer do people settle into a good job, work 20+ years, then retire comfortably. The onus is on you to keep abreast of new technology disciplines to maintain your marketability. Devote at least an hour a day to this study. Many programmers and IT workers my age and older, I can tell you, became spoiled in their comfortableness, and still, to this day, are reluctant or outright refuse to advance their knowledge. In the pre-internet age, one could milk their knowledge of COBOL or PL/I programming and do the same thing for 20+ years. However, a savvy old-timer that doesn’t want to learn new tricks can instead offset that to their interpersonal network of associations. Which is the focus of the next point…
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Forge and cement a rock solid network of associations with all the critical stakeholders in your company’s workflow. The larger the company, the more divergent entities that must work together in cohesion, exacerbated further with outsourcing. Typically, in a corporate setting, it might take handoff, review or approval of a half-dozen entities or more, with most of them not actually being company employees. A relationship you have with trusted sources on those teams, will mean your requests will be expedited and given careful attention over the unfamiliar multitudes that cross their desk. And remember, most of the subject matter expertise is going to rest with those few survivors — the new worker adds will likely be less costly, green behind the ears, unmotivated chaps.
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Take the severance package and depart. I realize that’s a scary leap for some. But, with a severance, at least you get a chance to branch out of your current day-to-day routine, and if you never try, you’ll never know what is possible. If you’re resourceful, you can always come back in the hire of the outsourcing firm and may end up hiring back on to the parent company, with them bridging the time too, making it as if you never left at all. And you’ll be richer for it, not just salary wise.
