planet outsourcing

Some say outsourcing snatches jobs but it’s a boon for those who cannot find people to work. University of Wyoming (UW) which could not find the required talent for undertaking job related to football and other big events has outsourced these jobs to a Denver company. The company called Contemporary Services Corp (CSC) has now undertaken the responsibility for parking, ticket scanning, ushers and security for University of Wyoming. The contract is for one year and would also be covering soccer, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball. For the football game one hundred and fifty people have been employed. nue. As per Mike Smith, Branch Manager, CSC: We’re here working as a team with the university to provide a positive guest experience so fans can enjoy the game and enjoy the venue.

Now next on the cards for India is the global engineering services industry which is worth $750 billion per year. As per the latest industry report, India has a very strong position in the automotive and telecom engineering market. It is expected to garner a share of $25 billion by the year 2020. One of the areas where India could benefit is Aerospace though it is also one of the most competitive areas to tap due to its association with the defense sector. It is expected that the total offshoring engineering market would reach the figures of $150 to $225 billion by 2020 and India is expected capture 25% of the market. In order to capture this big market India would have to create 2, 50,000 jobs in the engineering sector and come up with a proper plan for achieving this. India would also be requiring a brand name like what it has achieved in the software industry.

It is believed that salvation can be attained by indulging into religious activities. Times have changed now drastically and even religious activities are being outsourced in this great modern market. This is outsourcing is being done by faithful living outside India in order to achieve salvation. After outsourcing been sought by Christians and Hindus, the Muslims are not far behind and have started outsourcing Islamic rituals. As a result of shortage of priests in the west often requests for holding masses are entertained by Indian priests. Also the Hindus have been indulging into long distance prayers. Websites are now offering opportunities for virtual worship at Hindu pilgrimage. Here the devotees can offer pujas (a prayer) and even submit prasad (flowers, fruits or sweets offered to deity). All this can be done just by punching your credit card details. In Islam commoditification of religious activities is not acceptable. Well I guess outsourcing has found a place for itself every where but we should look at the larger picture and ensure that this kind of outsourcing should be acceptable.

If the latest trend is to be believed then outsourcing seems to be slowing down. It is being seen that MNCs are now opting for smaller deals as compared to the big deals that they earlier went for. This sector has seen one of the worst performances in the last four years and would not be able to cross the figures of $81.9bn in contracts which was achieved last year. The slowdown this year would be the second instance where the number of outsourcing contracts fell since they climbed the figures of $84.7bn in the year 2004. This could be due to the fact that MNCs might be running out of major operations for outsourcing. Though companies are opting for a number of services but now they prefer shorter deals and the length of the contracts has come down from ten to four years. This would certainly send bells ringing in China and India which are one of the biggest outsourcing destinations.

The news of data theft has spread like wild fire and it is giving the IT company bosses sleepless nights. With instances of data theft in India being reported and one of the companies shutting shops does it imply there is something serious? Should we believe Kiran Karnik, NASSCOM chief who says that the theft cases are being blown out of proportion by the media and he also stated that this news caught attention was that it was a rare case which happened and compared it to a case of man biting a dog. If Vakul Sharma, Legal Expert, Cyber crime is to be believed then compared to international averages India had one of the lowest rates of data theft and which was just 0001 % of the total thefts reported. Vakul says that there is no need to worry as these are just isolated cases and should not cause panic among the companies.

Philippines cannot be left behind in outsourcing arena. In a latest move Philippine based Ayala Corp has taken over a New York based non voice outsourcing services firm for $18 million. This deal shows that outsourcing industry is growing in the case of Philippines. The company has brought out two US based venture capital funds for acquiring hundred percent stakes in Integreon Managed Solutions. Earlier this year the company had acquired an eleven percent stake in eTelecare Global Solutions for $16 million. The company is investing in mature BPO companies in India, US and Philippines. Alfredo Ayala, Chief Executive, LiveIt said: We are open to investing more if the prospects are right. We’re not focused on start-ups because it’s quite difficult to crack the overseas market.

Times have changed now; the mid sized employers have realized that outsourcing of HR function requires huge investment. The decision of HR outsourcing needs to be taken after a lot of thinking as at times it is these outsourcings that will help the organization remain competitive. As per NelsonHall around 42 % of the mid sized organizations are expected to expand their HR outsourcing. Mid sized organizations are those that employ 1000 to 10000 workers. NelsonHall is a Massachusetts-based research and consulting firm. The firm has conducted interviews with some 60 mid sized organizations in the US. These organizations are from all spheres like transportation, retail and manufacturing sectors. The survey also included HR vendors who cater to the middle market. As per the report that came out in June it was revealed that HR outsourcing has been increasing in Middle sized organizations as there is a need to provide health care and related benefits comparable to large organizations. So I feel in the future there would be an increase in the outsourcing of HR activities by mid sized organizations, to stay in business.

Air New Zealand is all set to outsource its operations. It has received a formal offer from Swissport International for its frontline services at $20 million less than the current costs and economist are wondering how this could be possible. Swissport would be working along with Transfield Services for providing services such as check in work and baggage handling. Air New Zealand wants to outsource operations at Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington. If this plan goes through Air New Zealand employees would have to accept a pay cut of around $15,000 a year. The unions are expected to fight this out and would be putting pressure on the management to sort this out.

South Africa wants to create a name for itself in the field of outsourcing. South Africa’s trade and industry department is considering bringing legislative changes for improving South Africa’s competitiveness in the field of outsourcing and attracting businesses, FDI and job creation. South Africa has the potential of generating 100000 jobs through outsourcing by 2009. This would only be possible through government, industry and institutional support. Outsourcing would help the country in attracting FDI of around $175m. It would also help in improving the GDP of the country. Though a number of opportunities are presented but this sector might face problems with regard to high telecommunication costs, strict regulatory regime and lack of proper skills.

Canadian patients can now breathe a sigh of relief. It is expected that Canadian medical scans might be outsourced to MDs in India for diagnosing and this is expected to cut the Canadian waiting time from weeks to hours. On the other hand a number of radiologists fear that not only would they lose jobs but the standards of the service would also not be able to match the international standards. It has been found out that Canadian radiologists are already working under pressure and at times patients have to wait fro three months or more for CT scan and MRI results. I believe that if patients are being forced to suffer then it would be a very welcome step and Indian doctors do enjoy a good reputation for their medical skills therefore quality is not a problem but the Canadian radiologists might have to face the axe.