[AngryData]

Telecomms do this for laying new wires/fiber too. They subcontract most all of the lashing, digging, and boring and the pulling of actual fiber lines, leaving the ends loose, and only then use their own employees to go out and actually splice them into the previous lines or into an active network. The connections at the end are quick and easy with little liability risks, unlike climbing electric or telephone poles, trimming trees near aerial cables, going into underground utility tunnels, and digging trenches through power and gas and water and other cables. They also don't have to buy and maintain nearly as many boom trucks and excavating machines like horizontal boring machines or mini excavators.

[liotier]

> then use their own employees to go out and actually splice them into the previous lines or into an active network.

Hahahaha - no. We use contractors for that too - no one who is outside our offices is an employee. GIS jockeys are contractors too. My developers also and most of the call centers. Essentially the only in-house functions are architecture, project management - everything else is contracted out.

[thunfischbrot]

And even a good part of those in the offices are contractors. Think Accenture, Capgemini for IT and project management as well as many others, including receptionists, secretaries, facility management, cleaners.

[bluGill]

Note too that they don't have to own those machines when they aren't pulling new lines. The same boring machine that pulls a new cable today can pull a waterline for someone else tomorrow, and a gas line next week. By out sourcing there is one machine and crew busy all the time vs 3 machines/crews used only a third of the time.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

And at the other end of the business they outsource billing and technical support, and franchise their stores. And seem to be forever laying off thousands of workers.