WE'RE ALL PROBABLY tired of hearing about it by now, but it may be that the hardest parts of the battle over remote work — should it stay, should it go — are still to come. And that, in turn, has brought back an old boogeyman from the early days of globalization: the outsourcing of remote work.

The employer argument tends to go like this: if the employee isn't coming into the office, what does it matter where they live? And if it doesn't matter where they live, what's to stop an employer from outsourcing that job to places where labour is cheap?

“Office jobs aren't going to disappear,” writes Sarah O'Connor in the Financial Times, “but the past year might persuade companies to shrink their core of permanent staff and expand their periphery of on-demand workers based anywhere.”

British economists attempted to quantify this and found that around 18 per cent of British jobs were what they called ‘anywhere jobs,’ and were the most vulnerable to offshoring.

But is this a justified fear, or bluster from employers struggling to adapt to the new flexible work culture (or the wage pressures of a tight labour market)?

White-collar workers with long memories might point out that this is nothing new — employers have used threats of outsourcing and offshoring (or its contemporary cousin, ‘automation’) for this or that purpose for decades now. But as of 2019, most of these fears hadn't materialized.

Many of the reasons for this, from the difficulty in training offshore employees to the unemployment pressures offshoring heaps on the young people who work the bulk of offshoreable office jobs, are no less applicable today than they were a few years ago.

Which is maybe why many government economic planners aren't looking for ways to outsource remote workers — they're fighting to insource them.

LOGISTICS

Catch them if you can

The race for ultrafast delivery is on. But whether the sector will stick remains to be seen

OVER THE LAST few years, the delivery industry has pursued ever-decreasing delivery times ― from two-day, to next-day, to same-day. And the latest trend in this race is seeing more and more “ultrafast delivery” services popping up, with some promising delivery in a mere 15 minutes.

This new market is attracting plenty of entrepreneurs and investors, too. In Toronto, a new company called GoodGood was launched by a former co-founder of the food ordering app Ritual. GoodGood brought in more than $6 million in its first funding round. In the U.S., a company called Gopuff, promising "daily essentials delivered in minutes," is valued at nearly (USD) $9 billion.

“Fifteen-minute delivery changes the way you shop,” said Zachary Dennett, who is helping launch the ultra-fast delivery company Jokr in New York. “Customers first try us out because they forgot an ingredient. Then they use us the next night for all their dinner ingredients. And then your mindset changes.”

Established companies are also looking to get in on the game: just recently, DoorDash added a bunch of hourly employees to launch their own 15-minute delivery service, called DashMart.

It remains to be seen whether these companies, mostly financed by venture capitalists with deep pockets, will be sustainable. Similar to startup scenarios like that of Uber, the strategy to attract users is often to subsidize each transaction or offer steep discount codes — a strategy that won't work forever. During the dot-com bubble, a company called Webvan attempted to pioneer 30-minute grocery delivery ― in three years, it had gone bust.

But if today's iterations can avoid that, the potential payoffs are huge.

“Now people get Ubers all the time,” one academic, Dr. Jamie Woodcock, told The Guardian. “It’s changed our relationship to transport. And I do think there is a chance this will change our relationship to shopping.”

CAREERS

Staying power

Instead of joining the Big Quit, now might be the time to negotiate a better role

QUITTING — IT'S ON a lot of people’s minds lately. But instead of leaving, now might be the perfect time to stay with your employer and renegotiate a few things.

Amid this period of departures and company shake-ups, there’s an opportunity for workers to open discussions with higher-ups about their job responsibilities, pay and working conditions, says Victoria Medvec, author of Negotiate Without Fear: Strategies and Tools to Maximize Your Outcomes.

“Anytime you’re dissatisfied with your job, go to your employer to see what can be changed before you depart,” she says. “Assume that your employer wants to keep you and would like a chance to modify things.”

While there are plenty of legitimate reasons to quit a job, if you’re thinking of leaving your position, keep in mind that the grass may not be greener somewhere else. If there are some aspects of your role or employer that you do like, it may be better to negotiate the things you want to change instead of jumping back into the job market with everyone else.

“Think about more than just pay,” says Medvec. “You could negotiate for position, key assignments and development opportunities. But make sure to ask. You never know what you might have gotten if you don’t. Leaving has no expiration date. You can still choose to leave later.”

TECHNOLOGY

Where are all the consoles?

Looking for a gift for the video gamer in your family? Good luck

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