If you are still in the dark about the many benefits of outsourcing then you are left behind already – way behind. In recent years, outsourcing has gone from being a hot trend to a standard in business. Outsourcing statistics will tell you that the number of companies that are employing this strategy is increasing every year and the practice has now spread to industries that are not traditionally known to employ outsourcing. Now, even entrepreneurs and small business entities are taking advantage of the many benefits that hiring offshore companies and individuals brings.
When the concept was first introduced during the 1970s (though some experts would argue that the history of outsourcing goes way back), only manufacturing companies are contracting out some or majority of their job functions to other companies. Then as it is now, the biggest reason to outsource is to save money. Wanting to expand yet realizing the cost implications of hiring new personnel and creating new departments, companies simply thought of contracting out their menial yet still important requirements to outside parties. The result, companies are still able to pursue their growth aspirations and cut back on cost at the same time.
At the onset of globalization and with the invention of the Internet and other communication technologies, the vast pool of highly skilled yet affordable workforce that are present in the East and other developing countries became accessible to Western companies. Countries like the Philippine and India are just two of the Asian countries that more developed countries turn to for cheap yet quality work. By the year 2005, outsourcing statistics have shown that the industry has reached the $10 billion mark. It is continuously growing almost exponentially since then and the interesting part is that it is not expected to slow down even in the face of the recession that the United States and other major economies are experiencing.
Here are some more interesting outsourcing statistics and facts for you:
. Information Technology is still the most outsourced type of job accounting for almost 30% of the whole industry. It is closely followed by human resources and sales.
. The most popular source of labor are Philippines, India and China. Companies favor these three countries because of their stable communication infrastructure and the presence of highly skilled and trained individuals who are fluent in both written and spoken English.
. It has been estimated that more than 4 million jobs have been transferred from Western countries to developing countries because of outsourcing. This number is expected to rise exponentially in the years to come.
. The economic development of India as well as other developing countries has been largely attributed to their ability to provide cheap yet reliable workforce.
May these facts and statistics on outsourcing provide you with an idea of how big the concept is and what it can do for your business. Your hesitation to outsource may be affecting your company’s chances to compete and grow in this highly competitive business environment. Therefore, you must seriously consider outsourcing to expand your business and make it globally competitive.