Jobs That Can Not Be Outsourced

Brazil: The world's next economic superpower?

This story was first published Dec. 12, 2010. It was updated on June 23, 2011.

For decades, the joke about Brazil has been that it's the country of the future -- and always will be. Despite enormous natural resources, it has long displayed an uncanny ability to squander its vast potential. Now it's beginning to look like Brazil might have the last laugh.

While most of the world is consumed with debt and unemployment, Brazil is trying to figure out how to manage an economic boom. As we first reported last December, it was the last country to enter the Great Recession, the first to leave it, and is now poised to overtake France and Britain as the world's fifth largest economy.

With the World Cup and the Olympics on their way, Brazil is about to make its grand entrance on the global stage.

When most people think of Brazil, they think of its passion and excellence in soccer -- not of skyscrapers in Sao Paulo, the financial hub of a fledgling economic superpower. They think of the pulsating beat of the samba and Carnival -- not commodities, or the world's largest cattle industry.

They see the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana and breathtaking vistas -- not Brazilian tycoons like Eike Batista, who has the best view in Rio, not to mention a net worth of $27 billion.

Kroft sat down with the billionaire and asked him, "How do most Americans see Brazil?"

Batista replied, "They think Buenos Aires is the capital of Brazil, so they mix us with, you know, other countries around South America."

"The most powerful country in South America?" Kroft said.

Batista said, "GDP-wise, we are bigger than all the other countries together. And you know, in the last 16 years, Brazil has put its act together. This is it. Hello, time for Americans to wake up."

With most of the world's economies stagnant, Brazil's grew at 7 percent last year, three times faster than America. It is a huge country, slightly larger than the continental U.S., with vast expanses of arable farmland, an abundance of natural resources, and 14 percent of the world's fresh water.

Eighty percent of its electricity comes from hydropower, it has the most sophisticated bio fuels industry in the world, and for its size, the world's greenest economy. Brazil is already the largest producer of iron ore in the world, and the world's leading exporter of beef, chicken, orange juice, sugar, coffee and tobacco - much of it bound for China, which has replaced the U.S. as Brazil's leading trade partner.

What Can You Outsource? The Basics Explained

In order for a business to be successful, it must provide quality goods and services, and do so cost-effectively. That means that the staff on payroll must be able to focus on the particular tasks they are assigned to keep the business operating smoothly and not be bogged down with ancillary tasks that detract from completing business-related procedures. Qualified employees are likely on a higher pay scale than someone who deals with more menial jobs, and that is why certain business processes should be outsourced.

Data entry falls under the banner of processes that can be outsourced. Many businesses do not experience consistent sales all year long. There are peak seasons and slow times. During the more sluggish periods, not as many receipts must be reconciled and the books do not take as long to balance. It would therefore cost a business more money to pay someone full-time wages on data entry when it can be outsourced to a company whenever needed. Outsourcing is also a better idea than attempting to foist data entry on employees who could be utilized in areas that directly improve the company.

Mail is another aspect of business that can be outsourced. Most business to business correspondence can be handled quickly via email, and mailers to customers are not sent out all day every day during business hours. An entire mail department at a business would become costly, especially since a whole staff would have to be on payroll. Mail is not continually called for, and outsourcing to a company that deals in mail as needed is more financially sound. Plus, businesses that ship a large amount of goods already have a warehouse.

One way to maintain brand awareness and drum up sales is via telesales, and this actually is an all day every day task. This can become costly for a business that attempts to staff its own telesales department. It is impossible for those who are not specifically in telesales to be on the phone all day and allow their assigned jobs to go ignored. The business would fail. Outsourcing to a call center that has the sole task of calling customers is cheaper than staffing a department on the companys bill.

Outsourcing frees up the two most important commodities a business can have; time and money. Attempting to maintain an entire department for mail and telesales can adversely affect profits, and that leads to a smaller bottom line. Sanctioning someone outside of the business to perform time-consuming jobs will help a great deal.

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Congressional Record, V. 153, Pt. 12, June 18, 2007 to June 26, 2007

International Trade

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