Hartford Business Journal

13 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | March 14, 2022 ON THE RECORD | Q&A that are going on inside a corporation and understand whether they need attention, or to be upgraded in order to keep them functioning optimally. That is a stepping off point for many of these workers who will go on to be application developers, quality assurance engineers, analysts, project managers. Q. There's a lot of debate coming out of the pandemic about the importance of cities in attracting talent. Are cities still important talent magnets, or has the fact that more people can work anywhere made cities less valuable? A. During the pandemic we've understood people can be successful working remotely at least some of the time, and productivity and life gains can be worked into the equation. It also means our workforce in the U.S. can be more decentralized so that our customers who are in Indiana or Wisconsin can work with our workforce in Hartford, and we can leverage that workforce across the country. The pandemic's lesson is that a more decentralized workforce can achieve productivity gains and make the U.S. more competitive with offshore workforces because we are able to tap into resources in cities where there are lower costs of living compared to places like New York City or Silicon Valley. Q. Do you view the reshoring of IT workers as a trend? A. Yes, and the crisis in Ukraine provides a good example of why it's needed. Many firms have offshore arrangements with Russian entities and outsourcing companies with thousands of Russian workers. Obviously the Ukrainian crisis is throwing that entire equation up in the air, ranging from not wanting to do business with Russian entities to not being able to do business with Russian companies because the banking system is cut off. That type of scenario is predictable in many parts of the world that are less stable than the United States. So while offshore may have an appeal for certain reasons, like lower cost, you still have political instability to deal with and the vagaries of foreign governments. Based on that, the decentralized workforce and the value that comes with proximity, the domestic U.S. workforce now is significantly more appealing, and that's one of the reasons we are making such a large investment in workforce development inside the United States. ©2022 Cli onLarsonAllen LLP WEALTH ADVISORY | OUTSOURCING AUDIT, TAX, AND CONSULTING Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor 860-561-4000 West Hartford CLAconnect.com CLA can help you reach your goals, then reach further. Success has a way of finding collaborators. Purchase a group subscription for your team or entire organization. Get access to HBJ for your entire team! EMAIL>> CIRCULATION@HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Cover