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The Off-Shoring Manifesto
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Tom presents 20 hard truths about the inevitabilities, pitfalls, and matchless opportunities arising as off-shoring, automation, and technology permanently change how we do business in the world.
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CageT
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O
Shoring
Manifesto / R ant
20 hard truths about inevitabilities,
pitfalls, and matchless o pportunities
contin u>e d
by Tom Peters
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê Not using Adobe Acrobat? Please hgtot pt:o/ /changethicso.m/content/reader
ÊCageT
1. Off-Shoring will continue; the tide cannot be reversed.
2. Service jobs are a bigger issue than manufacturing jobs, by an -order of magni
tude.
3. The automation of business processes is as big of a phenomenon -in job shrink
age as o!-shoring.
4. We are in the middle of a once-every-hundred-years (or so) productivity burst
³ which is good for us, in the long haul.
5. Job churn is normal and necessary; the more the better, in the long haul.
6. Americans· (those born in the U.S.A.) ´unearned wage advantageµ could be
erased permanently.
7. The wholesale, increasingly upscale entry of 2.5 billion people (Chinese, Indian)
into the global economy at an accelerating rate is virtually unfathomable.
Unfathomable = unpredictable, exceptional challenges, amazing opportunities.
8. For my future grandchildren·s sake, I relish the idea of billio-ns of wealthy, rela
tively happy Indian and Chinese people ³ rather than the idea of billions of
impoverished people pissed o! at wealthy Americans.
9. Free trade works. Period. It makes the world a isna ftehre plloancge ,h. a uThle
process is not pretty at times (sometimes long times). Those wh-o dutifully fol
lowed yesterday·s rules, yet are displaced, must be helped when the ´rules
change.µ Suc hhelp must not be in perpetuity ³ it demands a sunset date.
2/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
10. Big companies are o!-shoring/automating almost exclusively in- pursuit of ef
!ciency and shareholder value enhancement. (This is not new or news.)
11 . Big companies do not create jobs and, historically, have not created jobs. Big
companies are not Èbuilt to last;É they almost inexorably are Èbuilt to decline.É
12. Job creation is entrepreneurially led, especially by the small fraction of Èstart-
upsÉ that become growth companies (Microsoft, Amgen, FedEx, et al.); hence,
entrepreneurial incentives, including low capital gains taxes -and high R&D sup
ports, are a top priority.
13. Primary and secondary education must be reformed, in particular to underscore
creativity and innovation Ç the mainstays of high-value-added p-roducts and ser
vices. Children should be nurtured on risk-taking, with a low ex-pectation of corpo
rate cosseting.
14. Future success rests upon excellence in innovation. Hence, among other things,
research universities must be vigorously supported.
15. National/global protection of intellectual capital-property is imperative.
16. Broadband EVERYWHERE is a national priority, akin to the priority placed on
combating global terrorism.
17. All economic progression is a matter of moving up the Èvalue-added chain.É (This
is not Èmanagement-speak;É think farm to factory to R&D lab.) The good news:
technology change is so vigorous for the foreseeable future that those who can
Èseize the momentÉ have lots of room to play.
3/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
18. Worker bene!ts (health care, retraining credits, pensions) should be portable, to
induce, rather than impede, labor mobility.
19. Workers have the ultimate stake, atnhde tuhlutsi mate personal respon.s ibility
(Think Emerson, self-reliance.) ´Workersµ/we/all must ´re-imagineµ ourselves
³ take the initiative to create useful global skills, not imagine- that large employ
ers or powerful nations will protect us from the current (and fu-ture!) labor mar
ket upheavals.
20. We will never again be as dominant as we are today. But we can remain in the top
spot as long as we obsess about Ôve things: research-innovation-, entrepreneur
ship, education, free trade-open society, and self-reliance.
QUOTES WORTH NOTING/QUOTING
ÌFourteen Million Service Jobs Are in Danger of Being Shipped
Overseas. (UCal study)
ÌOne Singaporean worker costs as much as three in Malaysia, eight in
Thailand, thirteen in China, eigShttreaein its Tn I) imnedsia. (
ÌThe proper role of a healthily functioning economy is to destroy
jobs and to put labor to use elsewhere. Despite this truth, layo
4/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
Ørings will always sting, as if the invisible hand of enterprise has
slapped workers in the face. (Joseph Schumpeter)
ÌWe erect walls to foreign trade and even discourage job-displacing
innovations. But time and again through our history, we have
discovered merely to preserve the comfortable features of the present,
rather than reaching for new levels of prosperity, is a sure path to
stagnation. (Alan Greenspan, March 2004)
ÌWhat are people going to do witFh torthu)enmeselves?Í(
ÌThere is no job that is AmericaÏs god-g iven right anymore.
(Carly Fiorina, CEO, HP)
ÌThe world has arrived at a rare strategic inÙection point where
nearly half its population living in China, India, Russia have
been integrated into the global market economy, many of them highly
educated workers, who can do just about any job in the world. WeÏre
talking about three billion people. (Craig Barrett, CEO, Intel)
ÌForget India, LetÏs Go tBuo BsinuelsgsaWreeiak ( headline on
GermanyÏs SAP, BMW and Siemens near-shoringÍ)
5/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
ÌThe notion that God intended Americans to be permanently wealthier
than the rest of the world, that gets less and less likely as time goes on.
(Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics)
ÌThe new organization of society implied by the triumph of individual
autonomy and the true equalization of opportunity based upon merit
will lead to very great rewards for merit and great individual autonomy.
This will leave individuals far more responsible for themselves than
they have been accustomed to being during the industrial period. It
will also reduce the unearned advantage in living standards that has
been enjoyed by residents of advanced industrial societies throughout
the twentieth century. (James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-
Mogg, The Sovereign I) ndividual
ÌWhat strategic motto will dominate this transition from nation-state
to market-state? If the slogan that animated the liberal, parliamentary
nation-states was make the world safe for democracy, what will the
forthcoming motto be? Perhaps making the world available which
is to say creating new worlds of choice and protecting the autonomy of
people to choose. (Phillip Bobbitt, ) The Shield of Achilles
6/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
ÌIn a global economy, the government cannot give anybody a
guaranteed success story, but you can give people the tools to make the
most of their own lives. (Bill Clinton)
ÌLetÏs compete by training the best workers, investing in R&D,
erecting the best infrastructure and building an education system
that graduates students who rank with the worldÏs best. Our goal is to
be competitive with the best so we both win and create jobs. (Craig
Barrett, CEO, Intel)
ÌThe Americans self-image that this tech thing was their private
preserve is over. This is a wake-up call to U.S. workers to redouble
their e
whole new cycle of innovation, and weÏll both win. If we each pull
down our shutters, we will both lose. (Indian software exec to Tom
FriedmanNe/w York T)imes
7/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
info
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fortun ecalls Tom Peters the Ur-guru of management and compares him to Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and H.L. Mencke Enc.o nTohmei sttags him the Uber-guru. His
unconventional views Buledsi nessWee kto describe him as ´business· best friend and worst nightmare.µ
Tom describes himself as a prince of disorder, champion of bold failures, maestro of zest, professional
loudmouth (as a speaker he·s ´a spitterµ according to the cartoon strip Dilbert), corporate cheerleader,
lover of markets, capitalist pig«and card-carrying member of the ACLU.
DOWNLOAD THIS
This manifesto is available fhttpr:o/m /changethis.com/7.O!ShoringManifesto
BUY THE BOOK
SEND THIS
More than just a how-
Click here to pass along a copy of this manifesto to others.
to book for the 21st
http://changethis.com/7.O!ShoringManifesto/email
Century,R e-imagine !is
a call to arms ³ a- pas
sionate wake-up call SUBSCRIBE
Learn about our latest manifestos as soon as they are available. Sign up for our free newsletter and
for the business world,
be noti!ed by emahitlt.p ://changethis.com/subsc r ibe
educators, and society as
a whole. For details, or to
buy a copy of Tom Peters·
book, Re-imagine,!
click here.
GO
Ê
8/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
info
WHAT YOU CAN DO
You are given the unlimited right to print this manifesto and to distribute it electronically (via email,
your website, or any other means). You can print out pages and put them in your favorite co!ee
shop·s windows or your doctor·s waiting room. You can transcribe the author·s wor-ds onto the side
walk, or you can hand out copies to everyone you meet. You may not alter this manifesto in any way,
though, and you may not charge for it.
NAVIGATION & USER TIPS
Move around this manifesto by using your keyboard arrow keys or click on the rf ) figohr t arrow (
the next page and the left ahrr )o. Tw ( o send this by email, just cli . ck on
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS PC MAC
Zoom in (Larger view) [ CTL ] [ + ] # ] [ [ + ]
Zoom out [ CTL ] [ - ] # ] [ - ] [
Full screen/Normal screen view [ CTL ] [ L ] # ] [ L ] [
BORN ON DATE
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time. To check for updates, please click hehrte ttp:/o v/chiasngit ethis.com/7.O!ShoringManifesto
9/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
info
COPYRIGHT INFO
The copyright in this work belongs to the author, who is solely responsible for the content. Please
direct content feedback or permissions questions to thhe attp:/u/twhwowr.: tompeters.com/
SOME RIGHTS RESERVED This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.
cccÀeäÛe To view a copy of this licenshet, vtp:i/s/ict reativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-n od/r s2.0end a
cœ""œ˜Ã
letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Cover image from stock.xchhng ttp://www.sxc.hu/
ABOUT CHANGETHIS
ChangeThis is a vehicle, not a publisher. We make it easy for big ideas to spread. While the authors
we work with are responsible for their own work, they don·t necessarily agree with everything
available in ChangeThis format. But you knew that already.
10/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
Ê
YSave to disk
2 Hide/Show menus
O
Shoring
Manifesto / R ant
20 hard truths about inevitabilities,
pitfalls, and matchless o pportunities
contin u>e d
by Tom Peters
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê Not using Adobe Acrobat? Please hgtot pt:o/ /changethicso.m/content/reader
ÊCageT
1. Off-Shoring will continue; the tide cannot be reversed.
2. Service jobs are a bigger issue than manufacturing jobs, by an -order of magni
tude.
3. The automation of business processes is as big of a phenomenon -in job shrink
age as o!-shoring.
4. We are in the middle of a once-every-hundred-years (or so) productivity burst
³ which is good for us, in the long haul.
5. Job churn is normal and necessary; the more the better, in the long haul.
6. Americans· (those born in the U.S.A.) ´unearned wage advantageµ could be
erased permanently.
7. The wholesale, increasingly upscale entry of 2.5 billion people (Chinese, Indian)
into the global economy at an accelerating rate is virtually unfathomable.
Unfathomable = unpredictable, exceptional challenges, amazing opportunities.
8. For my future grandchildren·s sake, I relish the idea of billio-ns of wealthy, rela
tively happy Indian and Chinese people ³ rather than the idea of billions of
impoverished people pissed o! at wealthy Americans.
9. Free trade works. Period. It makes the world a isna ftehre plloancge ,h. a uThle
process is not pretty at times (sometimes long times). Those wh-o dutifully fol
lowed yesterday·s rules, yet are displaced, must be helped when the ´rules
change.µ Suc hhelp must not be in perpetuity ³ it demands a sunset date.
2/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
10. Big companies are o!-shoring/automating almost exclusively in- pursuit of ef
!ciency and shareholder value enhancement. (This is not new or news.)
11 . Big companies do not create jobs and, historically, have not created jobs. Big
companies are not Èbuilt to last;É they almost inexorably are Èbuilt to decline.É
12. Job creation is entrepreneurially led, especially by the small fraction of Èstart-
upsÉ that become growth companies (Microsoft, Amgen, FedEx, et al.); hence,
entrepreneurial incentives, including low capital gains taxes -and high R&D sup
ports, are a top priority.
13. Primary and secondary education must be reformed, in particular to underscore
creativity and innovation Ç the mainstays of high-value-added p-roducts and ser
vices. Children should be nurtured on risk-taking, with a low ex-pectation of corpo
rate cosseting.
14. Future success rests upon excellence in innovation. Hence, among other things,
research universities must be vigorously supported.
15. National/global protection of intellectual capital-property is imperative.
16. Broadband EVERYWHERE is a national priority, akin to the priority placed on
combating global terrorism.
17. All economic progression is a matter of moving up the Èvalue-added chain.É (This
is not Èmanagement-speak;É think farm to factory to R&D lab.) The good news:
technology change is so vigorous for the foreseeable future that those who can
Èseize the momentÉ have lots of room to play.
3/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
18. Worker bene!ts (health care, retraining credits, pensions) should be portable, to
induce, rather than impede, labor mobility.
19. Workers have the ultimate stake, atnhde tuhlutsi mate personal respon.s ibility
(Think Emerson, self-reliance.) ´Workersµ/we/all must ´re-imagineµ ourselves
³ take the initiative to create useful global skills, not imagine- that large employ
ers or powerful nations will protect us from the current (and fu-ture!) labor mar
ket upheavals.
20. We will never again be as dominant as we are today. But we can remain in the top
spot as long as we obsess about Ôve things: research-innovation-, entrepreneur
ship, education, free trade-open society, and self-reliance.
QUOTES WORTH NOTING/QUOTING
ÌFourteen Million Service Jobs Are in Danger of Being Shipped
Overseas. (UCal study)
ÌOne Singaporean worker costs as much as three in Malaysia, eight in
Thailand, thirteen in China, eigShttreaein its Tn I) imnedsia. (
ÌThe proper role of a healthily functioning economy is to destroy
jobs and to put labor to use elsewhere. Despite this truth, layo
4/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
Ørings will always sting, as if the invisible hand of enterprise has
slapped workers in the face. (Joseph Schumpeter)
ÌWe erect walls to foreign trade and even discourage job-displacing
innovations. But time and again through our history, we have
discovered merely to preserve the comfortable features of the present,
rather than reaching for new levels of prosperity, is a sure path to
stagnation. (Alan Greenspan, March 2004)
ÌWhat are people going to do witFh torthu)enmeselves?Í(
ÌThere is no job that is AmericaÏs god-g iven right anymore.
(Carly Fiorina, CEO, HP)
ÌThe world has arrived at a rare strategic inÙection point where
nearly half its population living in China, India, Russia have
been integrated into the global market economy, many of them highly
educated workers, who can do just about any job in the world. WeÏre
talking about three billion people. (Craig Barrett, CEO, Intel)
ÌForget India, LetÏs Go tBuo BsinuelsgsaWreeiak ( headline on
GermanyÏs SAP, BMW and Siemens near-shoringÍ)
5/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
ÌThe notion that God intended Americans to be permanently wealthier
than the rest of the world, that gets less and less likely as time goes on.
(Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics)
ÌThe new organization of society implied by the triumph of individual
autonomy and the true equalization of opportunity based upon merit
will lead to very great rewards for merit and great individual autonomy.
This will leave individuals far more responsible for themselves than
they have been accustomed to being during the industrial period. It
will also reduce the unearned advantage in living standards that has
been enjoyed by residents of advanced industrial societies throughout
the twentieth century. (James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-
Mogg, The Sovereign I) ndividual
ÌWhat strategic motto will dominate this transition from nation-state
to market-state? If the slogan that animated the liberal, parliamentary
nation-states was make the world safe for democracy, what will the
forthcoming motto be? Perhaps making the world available which
is to say creating new worlds of choice and protecting the autonomy of
people to choose. (Phillip Bobbitt, ) The Shield of Achilles
6/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
ÌIn a global economy, the government cannot give anybody a
guaranteed success story, but you can give people the tools to make the
most of their own lives. (Bill Clinton)
ÌLetÏs compete by training the best workers, investing in R&D,
erecting the best infrastructure and building an education system
that graduates students who rank with the worldÏs best. Our goal is to
be competitive with the best so we both win and create jobs. (Craig
Barrett, CEO, Intel)
ÌThe Americans self-image that this tech thing was their private
preserve is over. This is a wake-up call to U.S. workers to redouble
their e
whole new cycle of innovation, and weÏll both win. If we each pull
down our shutters, we will both lose. (Indian software exec to Tom
FriedmanNe/w York T)imes
7/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
info
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fortun ecalls Tom Peters the Ur-guru of management and compares him to Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and H.L. Mencke Enc.o nTohmei sttags him the Uber-guru. His
unconventional views Buledsi nessWee kto describe him as ´business· best friend and worst nightmare.µ
Tom describes himself as a prince of disorder, champion of bold failures, maestro of zest, professional
loudmouth (as a speaker he·s ´a spitterµ according to the cartoon strip Dilbert), corporate cheerleader,
lover of markets, capitalist pig«and card-carrying member of the ACLU.
DOWNLOAD THIS
This manifesto is available fhttpr:o/m /changethis.com/7.O!ShoringManifesto
BUY THE BOOK
SEND THIS
More than just a how-
Click here to pass along a copy of this manifesto to others.
to book for the 21st
http://changethis.com/7.O!ShoringManifesto/email
Century,R e-imagine !is
a call to arms ³ a- pas
sionate wake-up call SUBSCRIBE
Learn about our latest manifestos as soon as they are available. Sign up for our free newsletter and
for the business world,
be noti!ed by emahitlt.p ://changethis.com/subsc r ibe
educators, and society as
a whole. For details, or to
buy a copy of Tom Peters·
book, Re-imagine,!
click here.
GO
Ê
8/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
info
WHAT YOU CAN DO
You are given the unlimited right to print this manifesto and to distribute it electronically (via email,
your website, or any other means). You can print out pages and put them in your favorite co!ee
shop·s windows or your doctor·s waiting room. You can transcribe the author·s wor-ds onto the side
walk, or you can hand out copies to everyone you meet. You may not alter this manifesto in any way,
though, and you may not charge for it.
NAVIGATION & USER TIPS
Move around this manifesto by using your keyboard arrow keys or click on the rf ) figohr t arrow (
the next page and the left ahrr )o. Tw ( o send this by email, just cli . ck on
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS PC MAC
Zoom in (Larger view) [ CTL ] [ + ] # ] [ [ + ]
Zoom out [ CTL ] [ - ] # ] [ - ] [
Full screen/Normal screen view [ CTL ] [ L ] # ] [ L ] [
BORN ON DATE
This document was created on 00 Month Year and is based on the best information available at that
time. To check for updates, please click hehrte ttp:/o v/chiasngit ethis.com/7.O!ShoringManifesto
9/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
ÊCageT
info
COPYRIGHT INFO
The copyright in this work belongs to the author, who is solely responsible for the content. Please
direct content feedback or permissions questions to thhe attp:/u/twhwowr.: tompeters.com/
SOME RIGHTS RESERVED This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.
cccÀeäÛe To view a copy of this licenshet, vtp:i/s/ict reativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-n od/r s2.0end a
cœ""œ˜Ã
letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Cover image from stock.xchhng ttp://www.sxc.hu/
ABOUT CHANGETHIS
ChangeThis is a vehicle, not a publisher. We make it easy for big ideas to spread. While the authors
we work with are responsible for their own work, they don·t necessarily agree with everything
available in ChangeThis format. But you knew that already.
10/10
| iss. 6.03 | ˆ Ê|ÊÊÊU | X Ê|ÊÊ+Ê|Ê
Ê
