Talent Acquisition: The New Normal in the Post-Pandemic World?

So many founders & CEOs have been forced by default into the virtual world of managing talent from afar. The pandemic and imminent economic crises have proven that outsourcing may not be just the new norm, but necessary not only for operational health but also to maintain a competitive advantage. Both Twitter and Facebook, just to name a few have already determined that their employees may work remotely indefinitely. 

In this “new era of agility”, our previous assumptions of the way we work, where we work, and even how we work have turned on their heads. Employee and client collaboration have been entirely digitized and the reluctance for some businesses to turn to outsourced talents has turned a 180. 

How will YOU navigate what’s next? Do geography and location really still matter? If not, does this mean merely pointing a finger on the map good enough for a business to stay afloat? 

[video width=“1280” height=“720” mp4=“https://ripeconcepts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/The-World-Is-Flat\_01142021.mp4”\]\[/video\]

The Restructured (and Relocated) Workforce

“One thing that tells me a company is in trouble is when they tell me how good they were in the past. Same with countries. When memories exceed dreams, the end is near. The hallmark of a truly successful organization is the willingness to abandon what made it successful and start fresh.”

- Thomas L. Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

In just a few months’ time, the COVID-19 crisis has brought about years of change in the way companies in all sectors and regions do business. According to a new McKinsey Global Survey of executives, their companies have accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years. And the share of digital or digitally enabled products in their portfolios has accelerated by a shocking seven years.

Our future work environment will never be the same even as we get through the many challenges we’re facing today. Remote work will not only mean spending more time in home office spaces but restructuring teams to include members from different areas in the world. By expanding teams through outsourcing, how can a business choose the right location and workforce to stay resilient and dynamic even beyond the post-pandemic normal?

Not All Outsourcing Locations are Built the Same

If researched poorly, setting up an offshore team in a location that may not have the best track record could lead to your downfall. Before deciding on the best location to outsource to, consider these main areas:

1. Cost-efficiency. There’s no question that outsourcing improves your bottom line through reduced operational costs due to hiring local employees, real estate, and equipment. But “you get what you pay for” still applies in this scenario. Bargain prices may not always mean quality work.
2. Talent and Technology. Training, expertise, and up-to-date systems lead to seamless handling of your business functions. Know firsthand the must-have skills of the talent you need and if the equipment that they need is readily available where they are. 
3. Communication. An overlap in working hours (or even a difference in cultural expectations) may limit the contact that you have with your offshore team and result in lesser quality results. Finding an outsourcing partner who commits to agile development, communication, and collaboration with you is critical to keep projects going even when you’re continents apart. 

Something New to Consider

The factors listed previously are no longer the only ones to consider as a novel one appeared on everyone’s horizons: a location’s ability to curb the spread of new diseases. Island nations seem to be at an advantage in this aspect. Sealing borders, enforcing protocols, and magnifying relief in high-risk areas were indisputably found easier to execute through stricter enforcement at localized levels. 

With the work disruption that came from all these protocols, an outsourcing location can also be assessed based on its ability to jump on its feet and embrace work-from-home solutions with little to no time to prepare. The capability to do so presents that a can-do attitude is not the only driving factor but also a resource’s accessibility to an internet connection. This reveals an asset of a highly-flexible remote-working pool of talents that are eager and able to provide the same level of productivity beyond the confines of an office supported by the internet infrastructure in the country.

A great example would be how the island of Cebu in the Philippines and its constituents handled the coronavirus pandemic. Cebu is considered as one of the leading outsourcing locations in the world and was even listed as one of UNESCO’s Creative Cities in 2019. It could have become the country’s Covid epicenter had it not tightened its border controls, population movement, face mask mandate, and increased testing and contact tracing efforts. The city has successfully flattened the curve twice and has slowly started to reopen business and tourism activities.

Why Cebu is the Best Outsourcing Location (By Far)

So, yes, the outsourcing location you pick matters. Big time. And with all the outsourcing locations in the world, there’s genuinely one that matches expectation and reality - Cebu. 

Cebu has long been known as the ideal outsourcing location for decades because of its technologically adept, highly-skilled, English-speaking workforce. The country is consistently considered High in the English Proficiency Index and has pioneered the outsourcing movement since the early 90s. But in Cebu, staff wages and real estate costs are 25% lower than in the capital. 

With international investor-friendly government initiatives and specializations in IT, digital marketing, and design, Cebu is no longer viewed as the alternative to the country’s capital or other outsourcing countries. Its intuition for workforce trends and technological innovations have made the location a solid favorite for countless big-name companies like Amazon, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Lexmark. 

Lastly, Cebu has continued to demonstrate its resilience in the face of natural disasters and the current pandemic. It is outside of the typhoon belt and has withstood numerous high-level category typhoons. Plus, its local government’s swift and strict Covid measures have kept case surges well-controlled in the area.

Outsourcing in Cebu will play a vital role in ensuring that your managers are focused on business development and that your business productivity soars. Because RipeConcepts’ creative headquarters is in Cebu, it is at the heart of many large corporations’ growth plans with its end-to-end world-class creative solutions – and it could be yours too. 

Send us a message at info@ripeconcepts.com to know more about how we can lead your offshore transition by creating a team with us!