The work
that left
Thirty years of labor arbitrage rested on one assumption: somewhere, there is always cheaper labor. Eleven geographies. 4.2 million records. It is no longer true, and every cost model in circulation still assumes it is.
What we found
All research →The floor stopped falling
Real compensation in delivery markets rose nearly three times faster than every model assumed. The error points the same direction in all eleven geographies, which means it is the model, not the market.
Attrition is the bill
Fully loaded replacement cost now exceeds the nominal wage gap in four of eleven geographies. The saving exists in the business case and not in the accounts.
Judgment moved first
Capability migrated on a different curve than transaction work, and the receiving markets repriced accordingly. This was foreseeable. It was not foreseen.
Nobody was asking without a stake in the answer.
Vendors published research proving vendors were right. Advisors published research proving advisors were needed. We take no vendor fees, no referral arrangements, and no engagement where the conclusion is specified in the brief. It is the whole reason the work can be trusted.
How we workForty-four chapters. One reckoning.
An industry sold a promise it could not price. What was moved, what it actually cost, who captured the gains, and what the receiving economies were left holding. Written from primary data and three decades inside the rooms where these decisions were made.
Request advance copyThe practice
All services →National workforce strategy
Diagnostic, target operating model, and sequencing for ministries of labor, finance, and education.
Global capability design
Location strategy and the honest total cost of distributed delivery for multinational employers.
Labor market diagnostics
Country assessments built on employment microdata rather than survey sentiment.