The death of the reign of the knowledge worker
Outsourcing is over-hyped in the short term, but it’s under-hyped in the long term… If standardized, routine, L-directed (left brained) work such as financial analysis, radiology, and computer programming can be done for a lot less overseas and can be delivered to clients instantly over fiber optic links, that’s where the work will go… Many of today’s knowledge workers will have to command a new set of aptitudes. They’ll need to do what workers abroad can not do equally well for much less money: Using R-directed (right brain) abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing a big picture rather than analyzing a single component.
(Daniel Pink - A Whole New Mind)
In a nutshell this is why I have not even entertained radiology. Services like Nighthawk are already out sourcing the reading of films. Radiologist are primed for large pay cuts. Likewise, other image based specialties like pathology will be next as slides become increasingly digitized.
