The Pros and (few) Cons of Globalization

“Globalization” is one of those words – along with “blockchain” or “automation” – that is thrown around quite a lot in today’s working world. There is good reason for it, but many talk about the perils, or the benefits of it without actually knowing what it means or what the phenomenon of globalization has already brought to the world.

Globalization has been defined by Investopedia as the representation of international trade, investment, information technology, and cultures. Many other reputable online sources have shared this sentiment as well. Easy enough to understand, right? I think so. Harder yet is to see all of the impact that the phenomenon of globalization has on our daily lives. I am writing this blog post from a Radisson in Istanbul, Turkey, drinking a Nestle instant coffee that I brought from home in Houston, on a computer whose parts were harvested from all over the world and assembled almost certainly in Taiwan. Look around right now. I doubt that you will be able to paint a homogenized picture of where everything came from. There are (and have been for thousands of years).

As the Investopedia definition succicntly mentions, this also includes the less tangible import and export of culture. In many parts of the world, this is the pervasion of the English language, or the fixation of North American (whether that is the US or Latin America) pop idols, or diverse cuisines. There are even more innate symptoms that are increasingly difficult to spot once they have permeated into your life. How you dress, how you interact with strangers, and even how you eat are indirect but impactful implications of globalization.

Although its ture that globalization brings many new and exciting things to our lives, it can also bring negatives that many civilians and politicians (at least US politicians) bring up in the fight against the phenomenon. In this article, we are going to explore some of the biggest pros, cons, and overall effects that globalization has on out growing population, and the impact it has made, especially in the freelancing industry.

PROS:

Diversity of Goods: Who doesn’t like choices? With globalization, you are afforded a more diverse selection with options from many nations and cultures. Low tariffs and import-export taxes fought for by politicians over the last 50 years have made the exchange of goods like Italian olive oil, Indian mangoes, or even Huawei phones accessible and reasonably priced to the world market.

Wider Hiring Talent Pool: Now, more than ever before, you can expand your talent search outside the traditional reaches of your company. With job sites that function internationally like Indeed, Monster.com and others, the consideration from an employee in another state or even another country is possible – and in some cases, preferred. For example, when we were looking for a lead developer for the QuiGig website, we looked overseas first because we know that we want to expand beyond the United States. We were afforded the capability to hire Anil Kumar and his team from Jaipur, and their international experience benefit our platform each day.

Expanded Cutural Awareness: This is by far the most difficult symptom to quantify, but its importance must not be discounted. This is both a cause, and a lubricant of globalization because it makes the countrymen more accepting of the phenomenon in the first place. There isn’t a metric associated with this like number of professional candidates or the price of paprika, but its effects can be arguably be felt more.

CONS:

Cheaper wages: When most people talk about globalization, they praise this symptom because of the benefit to those doing the hiring, forgetting that there are people on the other side that are losing money. This is especially an issue in the United States, my home country, because people in developing countries can afford to charge less for the same work that native people can offer. In both remote and local professional industries, the native population is suffering from their wages being lowered by the year. One of the main things you can do to combat this, is go back to school to increase both your skills and your values, something that we will offer on QuiGig in the years to come.

Increased Likelihood of Disease: It may sound like we are grasping at straws to complete this list, but hear us out. All of the major world diseases have spread due to globalization. The Black Plague began its world terror when it was transported across the Atlantic Ocean. SARS spread through international travel. Although it is unlikely for globalization to be the only reason for world disease, it is at least a minor symptom. By no means is this a reason to not globalize or to isolate ourselves.

Can you think of more negatives of globalization? Because we can’t. By building QuiGig, we completely embrace and welcome the phenomenon. For freelancers, all across the world, globalization creates jobs, projects, and opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise exist. These opportunities are coming in another blog, so stay tuned.