He noticed it on a dusty street in Ghana when a young man ran up to him asking for a job and promising to work his hardest. He observed it while teaching English to Burmese refugees in northern Thailand. Even during his younger years, living in Switzerland, mexico and Sweden, Jon Ferris saw it: the unorganized and untapped potential of young adults living in these countries.
"I've met so many intelligent young people throughout life," Jon says. "It didn't seem fair that they can't get jobs. They are sharp 25-year-old university graduates who would do well in the U.S. but have few prospects in the Philippines or Bangladesh."
A graduate of the entrepreneurship program in the Leeds School of Business, he knew he didn't want to spend his future selling computers or marketing plastics. Instead, after spending three years working with refugges in Thailand and Ghana, he created a company to provide job opportunities for hardworking, educated young people like those like those with whom he had worked. Jon's company, myglobalstaff.com is an outsourcing company firm providing a variety of information technology, customer service and administrative support services to small and medium sized businesses.
With the internationalization of the world economy, he firmly believes outsourcing is the way, providing competitive advantage for companies and promising job opportunities for talented workers in developing countries. He also sees outsourcing as a way for young graduates to remain in their home communities while still participating in the global economy.
"You go up to a group of young people and ask them what they want, and they want to work for an American company-they want a good job," Job says. "Now they can start to support their families in a new way."
His company's goal of providing great work witha social reward isn't surprising considering the influences in his life. While he was growing up, Jon's mother worked with refugees around the world and his wife works for the International Rescue Committee in Bangkok, finding homes for Burmese refugees.
As the director of myglobalstaff.com, he travels from his home in Bangkok around Southeast Asia, overseeing the company's operations and scouting out new places for expansion. With each location, he considers the impact his company would have on the local people and economy and works to spread into areas where work is most needed.
"I love being able to say, 'Wow, we just created new jobs for people in the Philippines,'" Jon says. "It's amazing what truly humbling feeling that is."
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