Outsourcing: American Indians take to outsourcing

The Miami Herald has a fascinating account of how American Indians have taken to outsourcing to enable them to be close to family and resist leaving reservations.

In a case of reverse outsourcing, the Lakota Sioux have one big client, a Chinese-U.S. joint venture. A local Indian-owned marketing and Web design startup, Lakota Express vets the accuracy of electronic documents that are transcribed in China by workers who, while understanding English, often have difficulty deciphering Americans' handwriting.

On four Utah reservations, 150 to 180 jobs full-time have been created through outsourcing, most of it government work but also commercial contracts.

U.S. companies are increasingly looking to Indian reservations as an alternative to going abroad for outsourced labor, said Doug Brown and Scott Wilson, authors of "The Black Book of Outsourcing."

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