Offshoring: Six Tips to Minimize Destructive Impact On Your Employees

1. Whittle, Don’t Hack Successful offshore outsourcing takes time—at least two to three years, say experts—so use that time to cut your U.S. workforce through attrition rather than layoffs.

2. Offer Training CIOs owe it to their staffs to give them an opportunity to become the kinds of employees whose jobs won’t be outsourced offshore, at least in the short term. Offer training classes in less transferable skills such as requirements analysis, architecture planning, business process design, contract management and business relationship management.

3. Find Out Who Wants to Leave Employees may not always want to keep their jobs. Perhaps they’re close to retirement or are desperate to leave but just haven’t done it. Ask for volunteers before you start cutting.

4. Communicate Employees won’t like you if you tell them their jobs are going to be outsourced in a few months. But they’ll hate you if you don’t tell them. Hate has more long-term implications for you and your company than dislike.

5. Don’t Hold Benefits Hostage Employees who are forced to train their offshore replacements to receive severance pay feel humiliated and angry. Find another way to get foreign workers up to speed if you can.

6. Lobby for Curriculum Changes Colleges need help to change their curriculums to make IT graduates more prepared for global competition. Call university faculty and tell them what you see happening.