居住在巴基斯坦的阿米爾是一名才華橫溢的開發(fā)人員,也是一個很可愛的男人,而且他對我的這家新公司的成功極為重要。受巴基斯坦式的英文教育的熏陶,他喜歡把所有年長的人都尊稱為先生或女士——不管對方與這一稱號是否相稱。更重要的是,他是一名極為優(yōu)秀的程序員。 說到全球化,許多人腦海中都會浮現(xiàn)出如下畫面:要么是一些大企業(yè)在墨西哥或印度開設(shè)的外包工廠,要么就是無數(shù)波蘭工人涌入英國的情景。但是全球化也建立了一個生機(jī)勃勃的全球自由職業(yè)經(jīng)濟(jì)。全球各地的自由職業(yè)者們可以在Upwork.com和Powertofly.com這樣的網(wǎng)站上介紹自己,從事一些特定的工作,有的還可以與國外的企業(yè)簽訂較長期的合同。據(jù)麥肯錫公司預(yù)測,到2025年,像這樣的在線人才平臺可能將為全球增加7200萬個全職工作機(jī)會。 這種變革會帶來一些明顯的好處,首先是成本。美國對高技術(shù)人才有著很高的需求。以我的這家小公司為例,在美國當(dāng)?shù)?,要想以這樣低廉的價格聘用如此才華橫溢的技術(shù)人員,幾乎是不可能的事。人才的缺乏幾乎威脅到了我的公司的生存。 幸運(yùn)的是,如果我們將目光投向美國以外,人才成本就會有所下降。我們只需花上三分之一的價格,就能聘用以阿米爾為代表的自由開發(fā)者、設(shè)計(jì)師和其他專業(yè)技術(shù)人員。如今,我們的員工隊(duì)伍分布在巴基斯坦、印度、菲律賓、克羅地亞——當(dāng)然,還有美國的新澤西。 雖然大家相隔萬里之遙,但人情味兒依然很濃,這一點(diǎn)在任何時候都能體現(xiàn)。我們有幾名開發(fā)者住在印度第四大城市金奈。去年,這座城市遭遇了堪比卡特里娜颶風(fēng)的水災(zāi)。我們不僅在情感上感同身受,還在物質(zhì)上為數(shù)千戶印度災(zāi)民送去了救助。這些身處異地的員工并非僅僅是我們的“承包商”,更是我們的同事。他們對我們來說,與身在紐約的其他同事并無區(qū)別。 當(dāng)然,技術(shù)外包也是存在一定挑戰(zhàn)的。想在萬里之外找到合適并且可靠的人才并不容易。雖然有些外包中介平臺也開通了類似優(yōu)步的評價系統(tǒng),可以讓你看到之前的客戶對一名人才是否滿意,但這個系統(tǒng)很容易被濫用。有一次我對一名設(shè)計(jì)師給出了3星的評價,結(jié)果那名設(shè)計(jì)師私信我說,她想保持5星的平均分,所以如果我不把評分改成5星,她就要給我一個1星的雇主評分。我認(rèn)為這是一種威脅,畢竟如果我的“聲譽(yù)”受到了影響,我也會不好受。 另外,不管現(xiàn)在的視頻會議工具有多么發(fā)達(dá),但是和所有開發(fā)者坐在一塊白板前熱火朝天地討論相比,似乎總是少了那么一點(diǎn)創(chuàng)業(yè)的氛圍。 我把外包中遇到的這些事兒講給了我的一個朋友,他表示,他明白外包對其他國家是有好處的,但他覺得外包對美國恐怕并非福音。畢竟今年五月,美國全國的新增工作崗位只有38,000個,是2010年9月以來最低的一個月。 我明白他為何有此擔(dān)憂,何況他的擔(dān)憂也不無道理。目前,我聘用的國際員工已經(jīng)和美國本土員工一樣多了,這也是川普最大的噩夢(川普的另一個噩夢,便是被人發(fā)現(xiàn),他根本沒有自己聲稱的那么有錢。) 然而如果沒有外包體系,恐怕我的公司壓根不會存在,我也壓根沒法雇傭現(xiàn)在的這三四個美國人為我工作。 也許外包無意間也給美國帶來了好處:在長期看來,在幾萬甚至幾十萬巴基斯坦和俄羅斯等國的人才為美國工作的同時,他們也將把美國看成他們生活中的一股“正能量”——甚至是世界上的一股“正能量”。當(dāng)年,肯尼迪總統(tǒng)之所以發(fā)起了“和平護(hù)衛(wèi)隊(duì)”(Peace Corps)計(jì)劃,就是因?yàn)樗X得派遣善意的美國志愿者到第三世界國家工作,將有助于這些國家對抗共產(chǎn)主義勢力的擴(kuò)張。而如今,全球“零工經(jīng)濟(jì)”的崛起,將有助于提高發(fā)展中國家相關(guān)人才的工資水平,因此或許有助于間接地消彌反西方情緒的泛濫。 而一旦我們的公司做大做強(qiáng),做出了名堂——而且最重要的是盈利了,那么我們必然會擴(kuò)大在美國本土的雇傭規(guī)模。因?yàn)楫?dāng)一家公司進(jìn)入高速增長階段,如果能夠擁有一支具有較強(qiáng)凝聚力的團(tuán)隊(duì),每天在飲水機(jī)旁邊分享創(chuàng)意,效果還是要好得多的。 但與此同時,我還是要衷心感謝自己能有機(jī)會與我們的這位杰出的技術(shù)負(fù)責(zé)人共事。在這里我應(yīng)該由衷地叫他一聲:阿米爾先生。 (財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者:樸成奎 |
Aamir, who lives in Pakistan, is a talented developer and a lovely man integral to the success of my new company. It was his English-influenced Pakistani education that taught him to refer to his seniors — no matter how unworthy — as Sir and Madam, and, more importantly, to be a damn good coder. Most discussions of globalization evoke images of large corporations setting up factories in Mexico or India, or Polish workers flooding into England, but globalization has also created a vibrant global freelance economy. Websites like Upwork.com and Powertofly.com enable freelancers to pitch themselves and get hired for particular tasks or longer assignments. McKinsey estimatesthat online talent platforms could increase global employment by 72 million full-time equivalent positions by 2025. This shift comes with some obvious advantages, starting with cost. Employees with solid technology skills are in such high demand in the U.S. that for my latest venture, it was difficult nearly impossible to find someone who was talented and affordable. The scarcity literally threatened the existence of my firm. Fortunately, once we looked outside the U.S., the prices dropped. We were able to hire Aamir and other freelancer developers and designers at a third to half the cost, along with remote specialists whom we could deploy for short bursts at lower prices. Our extended staff now includes people living in Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Croatia and — yes — New Jersey. The human connection is present despite the distance, and it reveals itself in both good times and bad. Our Indian developers work in Chennai, India. When the city experienced amassive Katrina-level flood, we were emotionally and concretely invested in the plight of thousands of Indians and their families. Remote employees are not just “contractors” — they are our co-workers, just as much as if they’d been living in New York. Of course, there are challenges. Finding talented and reliable people from 5,000 miles away can be tricky. While the intermediary freelancer marketplace has developed an Uber-like rating systems that ostensibly lets you see whether previous clients were satisfied, the system is subject to abuse. After one designer bailed on an assignment, I gave her a 3. She wrote back, saying that she was trying to maintain her 5 average and that if I didn’t give her a 5, she’d give me a 1 star employer rating. Wink wink. I took that as a threat: it would be a pity if anything were to happen to my ‘reputation.’ And no matter how good the video conferencing tools, you still lose quite a bit by not having your developers — and the rest of your staff — sitting around the same whiteboard. When I described all this to a friend he said that while he could see how this was good for other countries’ economies, he thought this sounded pretty bad for was confused about how it benefited America. After all, the U.S.created just 38,000 jobs in May, the lowest figure since September 2010. I understand where he’s coming from. It’s true — I’m currently paying as many people overseas as I am in the U.S., one of Donald Trump’s worst nightmare (along with people discovering he’s not nearly as wealthy as he claims). On the other hand, without this system, I doubt my new company would even exist – nor would the three or four jobs I’ve filled by hiring Americans. Perhaps there’s an unintended benefit for this country: In the long run, it’s good for this country when tens or hundreds of thousands of men and women living in places like Pakistan and Russia work for American firms, and therefore see the U.S. as a positive force in their lives — and maybe the world. President Kennedy launched the Peace Corps because he thought well-meaning Americans would help fight communism in Third World countries. Perhaps the global gig economy – which tends to raise the wages of those in developing countries – could indirectly undercut the spread of anti-Western feeling. Once we’re profitable, big and famous, we do intend to build out our staff here in the U.S. When a company enters a high-growth phase, it’s still much better to have a cohesive team in the same physical space so they can exchange ideas around the water cooler. In the meantime, I’m grateful I get to work with people like our tech lead, who I really should be calling by his proper name: Sir Aamir. |