Now, one tech company is declaring the latest trend, “Outsourcing to Detroit.”

Outsourcing generally refers to hiring an outside firm that’s cheaper, generally in countries like India or China, but Detroit was hit so hard by the auto industry crisis of the past two years, both in terms of jobs and real estate prices, that for American companies it’s starting to look like a viable competitor to developing nations.

Following moves by Quicken Loans and Blue Cross Blue Shield to relocate workers from the suburbs to downtown Detroit, IT-services provider GalaxE, based in Somserset, NJ, decided to set up shop there too.

Outsourcing from New Jersey to Detroit may seem like a punchline, but, in fact, it makes a lot of sense: The costs are just a little bit higher than they would be to set up shop in a place like Brazil, GalaxE CEO Tim Bryan said, but with added benefits. The same currency, same language, same culture and same time zone make it more attractive.

Plus, GalaxE’s clients, which include Fortune 100 health care firms, said they preferred to have the work done in the United States. GalaxE looked at several U.S. cities, including Newark and Camden, both in New Jersey, as well as Cleveland and some small cities in West Virginia. Ultimately, they settled on Detroit.

Last summer, the company opened a facility in downtown Detroit, promising to hire 500 workers over the next five years.

This was many months before the economy, and auto industry, started to turn, prompting Fortune to declare, “Only the landing of a flying saucer might have been more unexpected.”

Actually, it’s not. You’ve got a lot of unemployed tech workers, and a captive — bordering on desperate — work force, since many of those workers couldn’t sell their homes if they wanted to. Michigan remains in the bottom five states for employment, with an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent, and many homeowners there remain underwater. Plus, the state is offering subsidies for companies to relocate there.

It’s the stuff HR dreams are made of.