Friendshoring

The distribution of work around the globe, what is generally called ‘outsourcing’, has been a fact of life in the information business for a long time. More recently though, information companies have taken an interest in applying the employment rules, climate change targets, and other sustainability goals that are in place at their US firms to the international organizations that support them with their offshore labor. This approach to international business relationships between firms with shared social values was dubbed “friendshoring” by Indian Prime Minister Modi earlier this year and the promotion of this idea is a welcome development for firms like our own that dedicate a significant share of profits to support community organizations where we operate. Specifically, Information Evolution’s robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives support higher education for future information professionals, accessibility to digital services for the disabled, community development services for Austin’s East Side, and support for the city’s artistic and cultural institutions. In India, we’ve supported many healthcare, education, sport, and employment initiatives in both cities where we operate. Furthermore, we have worked steadily to reduce our company’s energy consumption and are on target to hit our goal of reducing our carbon footprint by 40% in 2023. In other words, our CSR program is a lot like the programs of our customers and partners (i.e., ‘friends’) in the US and UK. And there’s one other thing we share in common with many of our friends. We are a US ‘C’ corporation and as such can be relied on to fulfill our commitments, contractual and otherwise. This is simply not true for a large percentage of outsourcing firms based in India, the Gulf states, and elsewhere. And, after all, without committing to this kind of legally binding ‘responsibility’, how seriously would you take a company’s CSR commitments? If you are our customer and want help in exceeding your CSR goals, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we’ll be happy to work with you.