The Human Side Of Outsourcing

The information technology industry is applauding indications that the Bush administration wants to accelerate the trend toward outsourcing government jobs and responsibilities deemed essentially nongovernmental. However, the practice remains controversial. Some question whether outsourcing really achieves its goal of bringing improved and more efficient service. Among the chief opponents of outsourcing are the government employees themselves and the unions that represent them. In her front-page story on outsourcing, Staff Writer Patience Wait takes a look at the human side of outsourcing, asking what it's like to be outsourced. Companies such as Computer Sciences Corp. and Electronic Data Systems Corp., which specialize in outsourcing, report large numbers of their employees were brought on as outsourced employees from both the public and private sectors. A high percentage of those outsourced employees, they said, ultimately found satisfaction with their new companies. But government employees facing outsourcing are still apprehensive of the change.Trying to understand what it's like to be outsourced ? both the company's perspective and the employee's ? has convinced us that we should also take a more detailed look at the results as well. Is outsourcing in government achieving its goals? Expect more on this issue in the months ahead.