Chapter 2 Chapter 1 When I'm Sleeping (1)

Your Majesty, as a devout Catholic, you love and are willing to spread our holy faith, and firmly oppose idolatry and other heresies, so you decided to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the states of India to meet the maharajas there Nobles, subjects and common people, go to appreciate the mountains, rivers, culture, folk customs, and customs, so as to find an appropriate way to convert them to our sacred beliefs; you also asked me not to go to the East by land in the usual way, but to choose a place that has not been found so far. The westbound route traveled by people. Excerpt from Christopher.Columbus' 1492 logbook

Nobody has ever given me directions on a golf course like this: "Aim for Microsoft or IBM." I'm standing on the first shot at the KGA golf course in the heart of Bangalore, southern India.When my partner tells me to aim for Microsoft or IBM, he's referring to the two gleaming glass and steel buildings beyond the first hole in the distance.At that time, the building of Gaosheng Company had not been completed, otherwise he would definitely use it as a sign to point me in the direction.The offices of Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments are located on the back nine, along the direction of the tenth hole.The fun doesn't stop there.The scorekeeper in the tee area is from Epson, and one of our caddies wears a 3M hat from the United States.The traffic signs outside the stadium are sponsored by Texas Instruments, and the roadside Pizza Hut billboards display steaming pizzas with the headline: "Insanely Delicious!" This isn't Kansas, but it doesn't feel like India either. .Is this the new world, the old world, or the next world?

I once came to India's "Silicon Valley"-Bangalore like a Columbus expedition.In order to find a shortcut to India, Columbus did not circle Africa in the southeast direction like the Portuguese explorers at the time, but led his Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Heading west across the Atlantic Ocean, through an unknown sea.Eventually he reached what he thought was the East Indies.At that time, India and the Spice Islands had always been known for being rich in gold, pearls, gemstones and silk, and there were unbelievable wealth there.At that time, the Islamic countries cut off the land traffic from the east to India. If they could find a sea shortcut to India, it would undoubtedly allow Columbus and the Spanish monarchs who supported him to quickly accumulate wealth and power.Columbus apparently believed that the earth was round when he set out, so he was sure that he could reach India by sailing west.However, he miscalculated the distance, thinking that the Earth was much smaller.Nor did he expect to encounter a large landmass before he reached the East Indies.He called the natives he encountered in the New World "Indians."However, even if he did not reach the real India, he could tell the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella who supported him that he had proved that "the earth is indeed round".

To get to India, I flew east from the US via Frankfurt.In the business class of Lufthansa Airlines, the GPS positioning map on the screen popped up from the seat armrest let me know the direction of the plane.Columbus found Indians, and I saw a lot of Indians after landing on time and smoothly.Columbus sailed in search of the riches of India, and he sought the riches of his day: precious metals, silks, and spices.I also went to India to find wealth, and what I was looking for was the wealth of our time: software, intelligence, complex algorithms, advanced technicians, call centers, transmission protocols, breakthroughs in optical technology.After Columbus discovered the New World, he was keen to turn the Indians into his slaves, thus obtaining a large amount of free labor.I just want to know why these Indians I met are taking away our jobs and why India is outsourcing services and information technology to the US and other industrialized countries.

Columbus's fleet consisted of 3 ships with over 100 crew members, and I only had one reporting team from the Discovery Times Channel, enough room for two convertibles.The Indian drivers we hired are driving barefoot.Suffice it to say, when I set out I thought the earth was round, but what I saw and heard in India shattered my belief.Columbus thought he had found India, but he actually came to the American continent by accident. Although I arrived in the real India, I found that many people I met here were more like Americans.In India, many people have American names, all I hear in Indian call centers are American accents, and all I see in Indian software labs are American technologies.

After Columbus returned home, he reported to the king and queen that the earth was round.He is also remembered for this discovery. And when I got back to America, I just quietly shared my discovery with my wife. I whispered in her ear: "Honey, I found out that the world is flat." How did I come to such a conclusion?I think it all started in the conference room of the Indian software company Infosys. Infosys is a jewel in India's information industry, Nandan.Nandan Nilekani is the CEO of the company, and he is arguably the most thoughtful and respected leader of the Indian IT industry.I came to the Infosys campus 40 minutes away from the center of Bangalore with the staff of the Discovery Times Channel to visit the company and interview Nerikani.The road to Infosys is potholed, with cattle, horse-drawn carts and passenger motorcycles rampaging alongside our convertible.But once you enter the door of Infosys, you enter a whole new world.A huge swimming pool surrounded by pebbles and manicured grass borders a sprawling lawn surrounded by several restaurants and a health club.Almost every week a new fiberglass building goes up.In some office buildings, Infosys employees are writing specific software programs for American or European companies, while in other office buildings, they are also operating background support systems for European and American multinational companies: from computer maintenance, specific research They do pretty much everything from projects to answering calls from clients around the world.

The security checks in the various office buildings are very strict, there are cameras at the door, and if you work for Amex, you can't enter the building that serves General Electric.Young Indian engineers, no matter they are boys or girls, shuttle briskly between buildings, and the ID cards hanging on their chests shake back and forth. One young man seemed to be able to handle my tax returns, another seemed to be able to fix my computer, and yet another might have designed my computer! After the interview, Nerikani took our camera crew on a tour of Infosys' Global Conference Center, a large, wood-paneled room that looks a bit like some Ivy League law school lecture theater.A huge screen is embedded in the wall of one section of the room, and many cameras used for remote conferences are hung from the ceiling.Nerikani said proudly: "The screen in our conference room may be the largest in Asia. It is made up of 40 digital screens." This is indeed the largest flat-screen display I have ever seen.He went on to explain that Infosys can use this giant screen to hold virtual meetings with every key member of its global supply chain at any time, so American designers can talk to Indian software programmers and Asian manufacturers at the same time. Discuss projects together, "We can sit in front of the screen and have real-time conversations with partners in New York, London, Boston, and San Francisco.

Maybe we are going to implement the project in Singapore, then Singaporeans can also see it live here. ... This is globalization. "There are 8 clocks at the top of the screen, which may best summarize the working hours of Infosys, that is, 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The 8 clocks mark the US West, US East, Greenwich Mean Standard time, local time in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. Nerikani said: "Outsourcing is just one manifestation of the major changes taking place in today's world. In the past few years, global technology investment has increased massively, especially during the technology bubble, when hundreds of millions of dollars were used to lay Broadband, undersea fiber optic cables, etc.” He went on to say that computers are getting cheaper and more common.Software has also advanced by leaps and bounds: e-mail, search engines like Google, and specialized software that breaks down jobs so they can send some to Boston, some to Bangalore, some to Beijing, and remote development. become more handy.When all these changes came together suddenly around 2000, Nainikani continued: "They created a platform where knowledge work and intellectual capital could be freely delivered. This platform could decompose and distribute various tasks. , produced and put together in the end. This brings a whole new level of freedom to our work, especially those that rely on intellect. In Bangalore we are just taking this change to the extreme.”

I sat with Nerikani on the couch outside his office, waiting for the crew to adjust their camera equipment.At this time, Nerikani said something that I will never forget.This is the first time I've heard such a statement.He tries to summarize the implications of all these changes."Tom, the playing field in today's world has been leveled," he said, by which he meant that a country like India was ready to compete in the global competition for knowledge jobs like never before.America better get ready.America will be challenged, but, he insists, that challenge is good for America because people are at their best when they are challenged.

As I left the Infosys campus and headed back to Bangalore, I riffed on that line: "The arena of the world has been leveled." What Nerikani means is that the world is becoming flatter... flatter?Flatten?God, is he telling me that the world is flat? 500 years ago, Columbus traveled around the world using the crude navigation technology at that time. He returned safely and told the world that the world is round. 500 years later, I'm in Bangalore, and I'm told by an engineer who was educated at one of India's top institutions of higher learning and is familiar with today's state-of-the-art technology that the world is flat -- as flat as the big one he used for global teleconferences. Screen.What's more interesting, he also regards this as a good thing, a milestone in the history of human development, and believes that this is an excellent opportunity for the development of India and the world - we have made the world flat!

In the backseat of my convertible, I scribbled these words in my notebook: "The world is flat." The moment I wrote it, I realized it revealed everything I had seen during my 2 weeks of filming in Bangalore Behind-the-scenes truth: The global playing field is flattened, and the world is flattened. I was both thrilled and terrified by what I found.As a journalist, I'm thrilled to find myself finding a vantage point from which I can better interpret headlines and changes in the world.There has never been a time in human history when more and more people will find that they can find more and more partners and competitors, when people will compete and cooperate with more and more people around the world, when people will There will be competition and cooperation in more and more jobs, and people's opportunities will become more and more equal.What ties them all together are computers, e-mail, the Internet, teleconferencing and all kinds of new software.This is what Nerikani told me and what I discovered on my trip to India and more.This is what this book is about.When you believe that the world is flat, you will find that many things are no longer difficult to understand.I am also personally very excited that the fact that the world is flattening means that we have unified the various centers of knowledge on the planet into a single global network, which, if political instability and terrorism do not get in the way, will lead to a A time of prosperity and innovation. The realization that the world is flat also filled me with dread, both personally and professionally. On a personal level, I realize that this flat world is not just a place for programmers and computer whiz to collaborate. Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups feel at home too.A flat competitive platform will not only attract innovative talents from all walks of life and give them passion and strength. Similarly, angry, frustrated people and even human scum will also be easier to gather. Professionally, I was also terrified because I realized that the flattening of the world happened during my nightmares and I missed it.I didn't really fall asleep, but I missed it in the midst of being busy. Before 9/11, I had been exploring the conflict between economic integration, represented by the Lexus, and nationalist forces, represented by the olive tree.Later, I published the book "Lexus Car and Olive Tree" in 1999.But after the "9.11" incident, the olive tree issue became the object of my full research. I travel almost all day in Arab countries and the Muslim world.During these years, I lost track of globalization. A trip to Bangalore in February 2004 rediscovered my thoughts and I realized that the world had changed significantly.When I look at the olive trees in Kabul and Baghdad, globalization has reached a whole new level. If you put "Lexus Car and Olive Tree" together with this book, you will find that globalization has experienced three great eras. The first era lasted from 1492 to 1800 and I call it Globalization 1.0.This phase began with the voyage of Columbus, which opened up trade between the old and new worlds.Globalization has "shrunk" the size of the world from large to medium. Globalization 1.0 tells the story of states and power.In other words, the process of global integration at that time depended on the strength of a country and its application form, that is, how much manpower, horsepower, wind power and later steam power a country had.During this period, countries and governments, influenced by religion or imperialism (or a combination of both), used violence to tear down barriers and unite parts of the world into one.Under version 1.0, the main question is: Where does my country stand in global competition?How do I get out of the country and use the power of my country to collaborate with others? The second era, which might be called Globalization 2.0, lasted from around 1800 until 2000, interrupted by the Great Depression and two world wars.This stage "shrinks" the size of the world from medium to small.During this period, the main force promoting global integration was multinational corporations, and the purpose of these corporations going abroad was to find markets and labor force.The expansion of Dutch and British joint-stock companies and the subsequent Industrial Revolution led to foreign investment by multinational corporations.In the first half of the era, railroads and steam engines brought down transportation costs and facilitated integration, while the second half saw globalization thanks to telephones, telegraphs, computers, satellites, fiber optic cables, and the nascent Internet Reduced communication costs. It is this era that allows us to see the birth and maturity of the global economy. There is sufficient flow of goods and information between countries. Only then has a truly global market emerged, and goods and labor can be arbitraged on a global scale. The progress of globalization during this period depended on hardware breakthroughs from early steamships and railroads to later telephones and mainframe computers.In the case of version 2.0, the main question is: Where does my company stand in the global competition and what opportunities does it have to exploit?How can I collaborate with others through my company? "Lexus Car and Olive Tree" is about the peak of this period.All kinds of barriers hindering the process of globalization have begun to collapse, and globalization and the movement against globalization have set off a new upsurge.But, despite this, there are still many obstacles to what appears to be a dense and seamless global integration.Don't forget, be Bill.Bill Clinton When I was elected president of the United States in 1992, very few people outside the government and academic institutions used e-mail.When I wrote Lexus and Olive Trees in 1998, the Internet and e-commerce were just beginning. Of course they developed anyway, while I was asleep.That's why in this book I argue that we entered a whole new era in 2000: Globalization 3.0. Version 3.0 shrinks the world even further from small to tiny and flattens the playing field.If the main driving force of globalization version 1.0 was the state, and the main driving force of version 2.0 was the company, version 3.0 is the newly discovered ability of individuals to cooperate to achieve globalization, and this dynamic also gives globalization version 3.0 its unique characteristics , this phenomenon of allowing and forcing individuals and small groups to integrate easily and seamlessly into globalization is what I call the flattening of the world, and I will discuss this phenomenon in detail in this book. Of course, they still developed, along with other things, while I was asleep.And that's what I want to discuss in this book. Around 2000 we entered a new era: Globalization 3.0. Globalization 3.0 shrunk the world even further to a tiny size and flattened our competition site. If the main driving force of Globalization 1.0 is the country, and the main driving force of Globalization 2.0 is the company, then the unique driving force of Globalization 3.0 is the cooperation and competition of individuals on a global scale, which endow it with new and distinctive features .We call this phenomenon of individuals and small groups cooperating seamlessly on a global scale the flat world, and it is the subject of my book that I develop in detail.Just a hint: the flat world is the personal computer (allowing everyone to write their own things electronically), fiber optic cables (allowing everyone to People can co-author the same electronic content no matter where they are or how far apart they are).No one expected this integration before, but it happened, around 2000.And when he happened, people all over the world immediately began to wake up and realized that they had unprecedented power and could go global as an individual; they wanted to compete with other individuals on this earth, and at the same time, they had more opportunities cooperating.As a result, everyone is now asking: Where do I stand in today's global competitive opportunity?How can I collaborate globally with others? But Globalization 3.0 differs from previous eras not just in shrinking and flattening the world and allowing people to collaborate globally.Also, the previous globalization 1.0 and 2.0 were driven by people and companies in Europe and the United States.Although China was still the largest economy in the world in the 18th century, the main players and shapers of globalization were Western countries, companies and explorers.But now it seems that this will become less and less true.As it further flattens and shrinks the world, Globalization 3.0 will increasingly be driven not just by individuals, but by all kinds of people, not just Westerners and Caucasians. Every corner of the world, all skin colors, and all races can participate. Of course, while Globalization 3.0 will be characterized primarily by the global participation of individuals, there will be new developments in this era for companies large and small.I will discuss this issue in subsequent chapters of this book. No doubt I had only the dimmest idea of ​​a "flat world" when I left Nerikani's office, and as I sat on the balcony of my hotel room that night contemplating it, it occurred to me that I should focus on bringing everything together. To write a book about what I saw so I could understand how the world is flattening and what it means for countries, companies and individuals.So I picked up the phone, dialed the number at home, and told my wife, Ann, "I'm going to write a book. It's called." .However, in the end I convinced her with examples.I hope to convince you as well, dear reader.Now let me take you back to the beginning of my trip to India, and I will give you a few examples, telling you that the world is flat, not round. jerry.Jaithirth “Jerry” Rao was one of the first people I met in Bangalore.Within a few minutes of talking to him from the Leila Palace hotel, he told me that he could help me with tax returns and all other financial matters from Bangalore.I hesitated and said: "No, thank you, I already have a financial advisor in Chicago." Out of politeness, Rao just smiled: In the case of a large number of outsourcing of accounting work in the United States, he may be my financial advisor. advisor, or a financial advisor to my financial advisor. Rao is from Mumbai, India. His company, Mphasis, undertakes many financial outsourcing tasks for states and the federal government in the United States. "We have reached agreements with many small-scale accounting firms in the United States."I asked curiously, "For example, my financial advisor?" He smiled and replied, "Yes, we have many clients like your financial advisor." Raod has developed a set of advanced software that can A standardized process for working procedures can make outsourcing tax filings simple and inexpensive.Rao explained that, taking me as an example, first an American accountant will scan some of my relevant materials into the computer server, including my last year’s tax return, my income certification form (W2), financial burden statement (W4) , tax forms (1099), bonus and stock income, etc., the server may be in California or it may be in Texas. “If your financial advisor is going to outsource that, he knows you don’t want people abroad to know your last name or social security number, so he’s going to withhold that information when he outsources to us. The accountant in India will pull this directly from a server in the US (by entering a password) and complete your tax return, during which time he has no idea who you are.Our data and customer privacy is strictly confidential.Accountants in India can see the data on the computer, but it cannot be downloaded and printed, we have not set these programs at all.If he has bad intentions, the best he can do is try to remember them with his head. Our accountants are not allowed to bring a pen and paper into the office while they work. "I'm curious about how developed this outsourcing service is. Those CPAs in the United States don't have to stay in the office at all," Rao said.They can sit on a beach in California and email us and say to us, 'Rao, you're good at tax returns in New York State, and Tom's returns are on you.Sonia, you and your partner in Derry are responsible for several tax returns in Washington and Florida.The other declarations are more complicated, so I will complete them by myself. 'By the way, Sonia works from her own home, and the company doesn't pay her at all. "In 2003 about 25,000 tax returns in the U.S. were done in India. In 2004 it was 100,000. In 2005 it is expected to rise to 400,000. In 10 years, you may find that the accountants in the U.S. keep the most Basic tax filing work is outsourced. I asked Rao: "How did you establish contact with the United States?" “My Dutch friend Jalen Tash and I both worked for Citigroup in California. I was his boss, and once we came back from New York to the company together, I told him on the plane that I was going to resign. He said, ‘I Yeah.’ We both said in unison, ‘Why don’t we start our own company together?’ So, in 1997 and 1998, we formulated a business plan to provide high-end Internet services mainly to large companies. However, two years ago, I attended a technology conference in Las Vegas, and some mid-sized US accounting firms told me that they would like to establish a large tax outsourcing organization in India like the large companies. So we developed the VRT (Virtual Tax Room) software product to make it easy for these mid-sized companies to outsource their tax filings. Rao continued: "These mid-sized companies have gained a more level playing field. They can enjoy the advantages of scale that were previously only enjoyed by large companies." I asked, "Okay, so what does this mean for Americans? Should American mothers stop sending their kids to accountancy?" “It’s not like that,” Rao said. “We’re just doing the dry stuff. You know what it takes to prepare a tax return? There’s no creativity involved. That’s why American companies outsource this work.” "What accounting jobs will stay in the United States?" I asked. Rao replied: "Those who continue to do accounting work in the United States will focus on some creative complex work, such as tax avoidance, income tax relief, and handling client relationships. They will say to domestic clients, ' We’ve outsourced the easy stuff, now we’re talking about managing your property and looking after your kids for the long run.’ This means financial advisors in the U.S. will have more time to discuss their financial plans with clients , instead of either running around like headless chickens all year round, or being too busy sorting out files as in the past, and have no time to deal with customers at all." From an article in the American magazine "Accounting Today" (Accounting Today), we can see, This is indeed the future development trend.Gary, president of Bummer Consulting in Manhattan, Kansas.Bu Mo wrote: “A total of 100,000 individual tax declarations were outsourced in the past tax collection, and now the outsourcing business has expanded to funds, partnerships and enterprises. The main reason for the rapid development of outsourcing business in the past three years is that foreign Companies have invested heavily in systems, procedures and training.” India has 70,000 new accounting graduates a year, and if they work for local companies in India, their starting salary is as little as $100 a month. With the help of highly developed means of communication, once these young Indians receive rigorous training, they can quickly master the standardized accounting model, and they will soon be trained as talents with the basic qualities of Western accountants. The money spent is far lower than the cost of training a junior accountant in the West.Some Indian accounting firms even contact American companies that need to outsource their business directly through remote calls, saving even travel costs.Bummer concluded: "The accounting industry is in a period of change, and those companies that stand still will be eliminated. Companies that create value through leadership, creativity, and relationships will change the industry and strengthen them. customer relationship." I said to Rao, "You're saying that if you're an American, whatever your profession—doctor, lawyer, architect, accountant—then you'd better learn how to please customers and impress people, because all Occupations that can be digitized can now be outsourced to the smartest or cheapest producers abroad, and of course there are both smart and cheap producers." Rao replied: "Everyone must know where their value-added lies." I continued to ask my own question, what if I am just a mediocre accountant?If I graduate from an average state college with mediocre grades, get certified as a CPA and then work for a large accounting firm with mundane jobs, few opportunities to see clients, and only let me do some back office work . But I have to admit that I am doing a decent job, and the company is basically satisfied with me.How will this change change my life? "That's a good question," Rao said. "We're going through a big technological change right now, and if you live in a country like the U.S. that's on the cutting edge of technology, it's hard to predict what's going to happen in the future. But if you If it's in India, it's more predictable. In 10 years, we'll be doing what Americans are doing now. We can predict the future, but we are behind you.Americans are always on the cusp of technological innovation and you determine the direction of the future... so it's hard to predict what's going to happen to the accountant you describe. We cannot ignore these issues, we must be honest about change and discuss what to do about it.Any work that can be digitized, any value chain that can be disassembled can be partly outsourced.Someone will say, 'You're right, but you can't serve me a steak from an outsourced location. 'That's right, but I can book you a table no matter where on earth you're eating.We'll say to you, 'Mr. Friedman, we've got you a table by the window.' ’ In other words, we can break down your entire dining experience and outsource a part of it.If you read economics textbooks, they will tell you that goods are exchanged, but services are produced and consumed in the same place.However, while outsourcing an entire haircut is unlikely, we can outsource appointments.What hairstyle do you need?Prefer that barbershop?All of this can be done with a call center in a faraway country. " When we finished talking, I asked Rao what he was going to do next.He's on his way.He told me that he was negotiating with an Israeli company that specializes in data compression technology. Through their technology, they can make the data scanned by CAT send over the network faster and more accurately. Doctors stationed on the other side of the world sought advice. A few weeks after I spoke with Rao, John.Johns Hopkins President Bill.Bill Brody Sent me an email that read: Dear Tom: I was invited to speak at the Hopkins Continuing Education Medicine Conference to give a presentation to radiologists (I used to be a radiologist)...and I found out A very interesting phenomenon that I thought might interest you.In many small hospitals in the United States, many radiologists outsource the reading of CAT scans to doctors in India and Australia. Most of the time it is because the hospital is not fully staffed at night or on weekends.Some radiologists transmit images from the hospital to their home, or Vail (a famous beach in Greece) and Cape Cod (a national natural beach in the United States) where they are vacationing, so that they can provide a diagnosis 24/7.However, the small hospital obviously sent the scanned images to overseas radiologists. The daytime in India and Australia coincides with the nighttime in the United States, so that the transmission of images overseas can better provide after-hours diagnosis. The CAT and MRI (Magnetic Resonance) effects themselves are already in digital format and can be delivered over the web, so there is no problem viewing these images anywhere in the world...I imagine doctors on the other side of the world have received them in the US Trained, and obtained the corresponding licenses and certificates... American doctors call these Indian counterparts they employ.nighthawk. (Nighthawks). Thank goodness for your best friend Bill, I'm just a reporter, not some sort of accountant or radiologist - there's no outsourcing pressure for me.Not long after, however, I heard about Reuters setting up a branch in India.When I was in Bangalore, I didn't have time to visit Reuters' local offices, but I found Tom, the chief executive of Reuters Group.Tom Glocer, a pioneer in outsourcing parts of the news supply chain, told me about his experience. Reuters has 197 offices around the world with a total of 2,300 journalists, serving investment bankers, financial derivatives traders, stockbrokers, newspapers, radio, television and the Internet.After the dot-com bubble burst, many clients began to cut back on expenses. In order to reduce costs and improve efficiency, Reuters began to think: Where should we send journalists?Can we also break down the work of journalists, keeping some in London and New York and outsourcing the rest to India? Glosser started with the most basic job of Reuters: the hour-by-hour release of company earnings changes and related business news.He gave an example: "Exxon Mobil announced the latest earnings numbers, and we need to get the news out to the world as quickly as possible. Our news will be:" Mobil earned 39 cents per share for the quarter, slightly That was up from 36 cents in the previous quarter. 'The key to winning here is speed and accuracy.我们不需要做很多分析，只需要以最快的速度反映这条消息。在公司公布数字后的几秒钟内就应该以快讯的形式反映出来，在过几秒钟后就应该列出该公司最近几个季度的收益表格。 “反映公司受益的快讯对新闻业的意义就像香草对冰激凌业务的意义一样——在这个平坦的世界上这是随处都可以生产的基本商品。冰激凌真正的增值部分是巧克力酱、樱桃和奶油，新闻业真正的增值部分是在接下来的5 分钟里，你需要一个真正的记者完成对这条快讯的评论文章，其中要包括该公司的声明、业内最顶尖的专家的评论、甚至是该公司竞争对手的看法。格洛瑟说：”这需要更高水平的新闻采编能力：这样的记者必须是老手，他知道该请谁一起共进午餐，知道谁是最好的业内分析人士。 " 网络泡沫的破灭和世界的变平迫使格洛瑟重新思考路透社发布新闻的方式——是否可以将采编工作分解，并且将低附加值部分外包到印度。他的主要目的是缩减路透社的总工资支出，但又要保住尽可能多的好的记者岗位。格洛瑟说：“我们做的第一件事情就是尝试在班加罗尔雇佣6 名记者，让他们做快讯和表格，以及其他所有我们能够让他们在班加罗尔做的工作。这些雇员都有会计专业的背景并且接受过路透社的培训，但是他们的工资水平、福利和休假完全和当地标准一样。印度是个绝佳的招聘人才的地方，你不仅能够招聘到技术人才，而且能够招聘到金融人才。”当一家公司发布其收益数据的时候，它会将这些数据发送到主要的通讯社，如路透社、道。琼斯、彭博（Bloomberg ），格洛瑟说：“在得到公司的基本财务数据后，媒体之间就要看谁的处理速度更快了。虽然将数据发送到班加罗尔会有1 秒钟左右的时滞，但你会发现班加罗尔的工作质量和在伦敦、纽约没什么两样。唯一的区别是，班加罗尔的租金和工资支出是在西方国家的1/5。 ” 尽管是经济的压力和世界变平的现实迫使路透社走出了这一步，但是格洛瑟却试图将这视为追求完美而必须做的。格洛瑟说：“我想我们能够把低端的报道放在世界上其他地方，做得更有效率。”而这会使得路透社乐意保留下来的那些记者更加注重高附加值的深度报道，也有利于他们实现自身的价值。“假设你是路透社驻纽约的记者，你觉得哪种生活更有意义？把公司的数据填写在屏幕的表格中还是做有深度的分析？”当然是后者。将新闻通讯外包到印度也让路透社扩大了它的报道范围，过去路透社出于成本考虑根本不报道一些小公司，因为纽约记者的工资成本太高了，他们不可能雇很多记者。但是现在他们在印度的班加罗尔却可以做这件事情，因为纽约一名记者的工资足以在印度雇用几名记者。截至2004年夏天，路透社已经将班加罗尔的工作人员扩大到了300 名，格洛瑟计划进一步将当地的员工扩大到1500人。 在这些人当中，有一部分是路透社的老员工，他们在班加罗尔负责培训工作，也有那些往表格中填写数据的工作人员，但大部分当地的员工在做的是更为专业化的数据分析工作，分析股票市场上的数据。 格洛瑟还谈到：“我们的很多客户也在外包业务。比如，很多投资公司已经将最基本的投资分析业务外包到班加罗尔。”过去，很多大的华尔街公司每年度花费数百万美元用于聘请高级分析员。这一支出一部分由投资银行部门承担，这些部门靠把公司说得天花乱坠的分析拉拢这些公司的银行业务。华尔街丑闻暴发之后，纽约州总检察官斯皮策（Eliot Spitzer 's ）加大了对华尔街的调查力度，投资银行业务和股票经纪业务被要求严格分开，这样分析师们就不能再靠吹嘘公司业绩来拉拢他们的投资银行业务了。可是这样一来，华尔街的投资公司就必须降低他们的市场分析成本，因为现在这一支出只能由股票经济部门承担了。 这就更激励这些公司将一部分分析业务外包到诸如班加罗尔这样的地方。班加罗尔一名分析员一年的报酬大约为1.5 万美元，而在纽约或伦敦，这一数字为8 万美元。除了工资成本差异外，路透社还发现印度雇员的金融知识相当丰富，而且工作的积极性也很高。路透社最近还在曼谷设立了一个软件开发中心，格洛瑟称，欧美公司都只顾争夺班加罗尔的人才，忽视了这块“绿洲”。 我为这一趋势感到内心的撕裂。我的第一份工作就是在美国合众国际社做通讯员，因此我深知通讯员们面临的生存压力。无论在事业上还是在经济上，他们都是底层的苦力。但是，假如25年前我在伦敦做合众国际社作通讯员时，它就能将一些低端业务外包，那它现在可能还是一家相当不错的通讯社。 “裁员是个非常敏感的问题。”格洛瑟也承认这一点。他已将路透社的全部员工裁减了将近1/4 ，但没有大幅度解雇记者。他认为，路透社的员工是可以理解这种做法的，唯有这样做，路透社才能生存并重新兴旺。“他们深通世故，经常出外采访。 他们看到了我们的客户也在做同样的事情。他们知道股市的发展就是这样的。 重要的是要敢于说出来我们要做的事情，而不是编造出好消息欺骗他们。我坚定地相信古典经济学家所说的，工作应该由做得最好的人来做。当然，对于一些雇员来说，寻找到新的工作机会并不容易。他们需要的是再培训和足够的社会保障。 “为了更好地说服手下员工，路透社美国分布的主管大卫。史勒辛格送给所有的编辑员工一份备忘录，其中包括这样一段话：外包的不可避免我在康涅狄格州的新伦敦市长大，19世纪这里曾经是重要的捕鲸中心。到了20世纪60年代和70年代，鲸鱼早已经销声匿迹，当地最大的雇主都和军方有关，这是因为当时处于越战时期。我们同班同学的父母很多是在美国海军、海岸巡逻队以及为海军服务的电子船舶公司工作。战争结束后，这个地方再次被改变。时至今日，这里是以大型的赌场（比如Mohegan Sun 和Foxwoods）以及制药业（比如辉瑞Pfizer制药公司）闻名。老的工作没有了，新的工作又出现了。过去的手艺不顶用了，新的手艺会吃香。这个地方变来变去，这里的人也变来变去。 新伦敦决不是特例。多少家磨坊早已经关门，多少家鞋厂已经搬迁到其他的地方。多少个曾经是纺织业中心的城镇，如今都从中国购买服装。改变是很难的。 对那些没做好思想准备的人来说改变是最难的，对那些不愿意改变的人来说改变是最难的。但是改变也是自然的，它不是什么新鲜事。有所变化是至关重要的。 现在人们谈起离岸经营就情绪激动。人们争论的是美国的就业机会是否被转移到了印度、中国和墨西哥。在美国历史上，这种辩论并不少见。新伦敦的潜水艇工作消失了，马萨诸塞州的制鞋业迁走了，北卡罗来纳州的纺织业衰落了。工作会被转移到那些生产效率更高的地方。最终的结果是，新伦敦也好，新贝德福德也好，纽约也好，这些城市受惠的程度胜过班加罗尔和深圳，因为这里的资本和劳动力得到了释放，可以从事更加精深的工作。最终产品会变得更加便宜，这给消费者带来的好处大过给企业带来的利润。虽然要让那些失去工作机会的人理解这些并不容易，他们总是会觉得千里之外的工人用低得多的工资抢走了。他们的。 工作。但我们确实应该在感到痛苦的同时也看到新的机遇。每个人，每家公司都应当适应他们的经济命运，就像我们在磨坊、鞋子作坊和工厂工作的祖辈曾经做得那样。 “显示器着火了？” 你知道印度的呼叫中心是什么样子吗？我和摄制组在班加罗尔制作关于外包的纪录片时，曾在当地一家印度人开的“24/7”呼叫中心呆过一晚上。这个呼叫中心占据了数层楼，共有20多个房间，1800名工作人员。一些人负责向外打电话，推销从信用卡到电话记录等各种产品。另一些人负责接电话，处理各种事情，包括为欧美航班的乘客寻找丢失的行李、为美国的消费者解决电脑问题等。这些电话都是通过卫星和海地光纤电缆转接过来的。呼叫中心的大房间中被分割出来很多小格子。年轻人形成一个个小的团队，为不同的公司服务。在角落的那个小格子可能是为戴尔（Dell） 集团服务的，而另一个小格子插着微软的旗子。他们的工作环境跟保险公司有点像，虽然我敢肯定有些呼叫中心就是血汗工厂，但24/7绝不是。我跟那里的很多年轻人都进行了交谈，发现他们中大多数人都把所有或部分工资交给父母。 事实上，这些人的起薪比他们的父母到退休时候的工资都高。一踏入全球经济的门槛就能够得到这样的工作，应该说是很好的了。 班加罗尔当地时间晚上6 点钟左右，我呆在呼叫中心的微软工作区。很多年轻人刚刚开始工作，这是为了赶上美国时间黎明的开始。我问身边的一个年轻人：“你们这里为给美国客户解释软件问题最长的通话时间为多少？” 他不假思索地回答道：“11个小时。” “11个小时？”我惊讶地问道。 “11个小时。”他再次肯定。 我没有办法核实他说得是否属实。但那天晚上我听到的很多对话都让我认可了他们的服务态度。带有印度口音的接线员竭力模仿英美人的语调，不管对方的话语有多么粗鲁和具有挑衅性，这些印度年轻人都会保持谦恭而礼貌的语气。 一名女接线员：“下午好，我可以找一下……”（对方已经粗鲁地挂断了电话） 一名男接线员：“我是杰瑞，要我帮忙吗？”（印度呼叫中心的接线员都按照西方人的习惯取了英文名字。这当然是为了让他们的欧美客户不感到别扭。一些人取得是很大众化的名字，而另一些人则颇具创意，下面就是一例） 一名女接线员：“我的名字叫常青藤。树林（Ivy Timberwoords，这里是意译），我给您打电话是想……” 另一名女接线员：“您可以告诉我您社会保险号码的最后4 位数吗？” 一名男接线员在帮一位美国客户处理账单支付问题：“我们可以继续这样并停止这些交易……” 一名女接线员对客户问题的回答让我感觉她在从曼哈顿的写字楼内向窗外看：“是的，我们在第二大道74号有分店，在列克星敦大街54号也有分店。” 一名男接线员在向美国客户推销他自己根本无法支付的信用卡：“这种信用卡的年利率百分比是最低的……” 另一名男接线员也在推销信用卡：“我们的信用卡不用支付任何额外利息… ..." 一名女接线员在帮助美国客户解决了电脑故障后说：“没问题了，先生，谢谢您，保重，再见。” 一名女接线员的电话刚刚被客户挂断：“喂，喂，您好，您好……” 另一名女接线员因为电话打得太早而向美国客户道歉：“非常抱歉，晚上我再给您打电话……” 一名男接线员在努力说服美国客户购买机票信用卡：“贝尔女士，您是因为信用卡太多了，还是因为不喜欢坐飞机呢？” 一名女接线员在帮助客户解决计算机故障：“好了，现在按下数字3 ，然后按回车键……” 另一名女接线员的客户似乎连1 秒钟也等不及：“好的，夫人，我明白您现在很着急，我在尽力帮您解决……” 那位女接线员的电话再次被客户挂断：“肯特女士，我不是要你……” 她的电话又一次被挂断：“我想告诉您……喂？” 这个一连5 次被挂断电话的女接线员最后感慨地说：“今天我真是倒霉透了。” 还有一位女接线员接到一位碰到电脑故障的女士的电话，不过这个难题她连听都没听说过：“夫人，您的机器出了什么问题？显示器着火了？” 印度现在大约有24.5万人在从事接线员的工作。这种工作在美国薪水不高，也不太体面，可在印度这种工作不仅薪水很高，而且也颇能得到人们的尊重。24/7呼叫中心的士气一直很高，那里的年轻人经常很高兴地在一起谈论他们接到的一些稀奇古怪的电话。 女接线员CM梅克纳告诉我说：“我经常接到一些古怪的电话，他们询问的问题和我们的业务一点关系都没有，有的人说他的钱包丢了，有的只是想找人聊聊天。我'就会跟他们说，'好，也许你应该在床下或平常放钱包的地方找一找。” 女接线员N.绍迈艾哈说：“我的一个客户让我嫁给他。” 24/7呼叫中心的S.孙德负责Delta 公司的丢失行李找寻业务，她说：“我现在还记得一位德克萨斯州的老太太打来的电话。她在电话里面边哭边说。她换了两班飞机，结果丢了行李，里面是她女儿的婚纱和结婚戒指。我替她感到难过，但我也无能为力，因为具体的情况我也不清楚。” 她告诉我：“大部分丢失行李的顾客都比较容易激动。他们只会说：”我的行李去哪了？我现在就要找回行李！'我们会向他询问姓名。可是他们还是很激动地说，'我的行李在哪儿？'有的还会问我是哪个国家的。我们会告诉他们是印度，他们有时候误以为是印地安纳州。有的连印度在哪里都不知道，我只好告诉他们，印度是紧挨着巴基斯坦的那个国家。“但是，大部分电话都是枯燥乏味的。不过，这个行业的竞争却相当激烈。这不仅是因为工资水平在当地较高，而且是因为年轻人可以利用晚上工作，白天继续上学，所以这是提高未来生活质量的踏脚石。 24/7呼叫中心的创建者和所有人之一卡纳安（PVKannan）说：“我们在班加罗尔、海德拉巴（Hyderabad）和晨奈（Chennai）有4000多名员工。最初，他们每个月拿到手的工资大概是200美元，半年后就能涨到300~400美元。我们还提供人寿保险和整个家庭的医疗保险，包括其父母和未就业的子女，再加上交通补贴和午饭、晚饭。”这样算下来，公司为每个接线员支付的成本最初大约在500美元，半年后这一数字将增加到600~700美元。而且每个人还可以根据工作表现获得奖金，奖金收入有时和他们的基本工资一样高。卡纳安说：“我们的员工中有10%~20%的人还利用白天时间攻读商业或计算机学位。有1/3的员工进修商业或计算机课程，尽管并不拿学位。 在印度有很多年轻人20多岁时继续学业，自我提高是人生重要的一课，家长和公司都会积极支持。我们在周末开设有全天的MBA课程。每个员工每周工作5天，每天8小时，每天有两次15分钟的休息时间，一个小时吃午餐或晚餐的时间。 “我问卡纳安，他的员工最大的抱怨是什么。他回答说是看不到事业的前景。 不过，卡纳安看来，接线员仍有很多机会可以得到提拔。他们可以被晋升为接线员小组的监工、负责很多小组的主管、最后成为经理人员。有的接线员也可以担任培训员和客户联络员。那么这种外包工作对印度来说最大的好处是什么呢？卡纳安认为，这些工作让印度的年轻人找到了自尊和自信。他们可以为全世界的客户解决问题，得到不错的薪水，并且每天都能和美国人、加拿大人和英国人进行专业对话。他们在很年轻的时候就能够开始专业的生涯，这是他们的父辈无法想象的。24/7呼叫中心每天收到700分应聘简历，最终只有6%的应聘者能得到聘用。 以下是24/7呼叫中心对班加罗尔一所女子大学应聘者的面试过程的一些片段：招聘者1：“早上好，同学们。” 应聘者们一起说：“早上好，女士。” 招聘者1：“我们受一些跨国公司的委托为他们招聘工作人员。今天主要为霍尼韦尔（Honeywell）公司和美国在线招聘办事员。” 数十名女学生排着队，拿着她们的申请表，等待着坐在桌子后面的考官面试。 招聘者1：“你想找什么样的工作？” 应聘者1：“我希望这份工作和会计有关，这样我可以随着工作经验的积累而不断成长。” 招聘者1：“你应该在说话时更自信一些。你太紧张了。我希望你能尽力改变这一点并和我们保持联系。” 招聘者2：“请简单介绍你自己。” 应聘者2：“我通过了SSC和SecondP，而且成绩优异。”（分别相当于美国的GPA和SAT考试分数） 招聘者2：“请讲得慢一点。别紧张。”