Recession Outsourced

THE IMPENDING threat of recession brings in a lot of uncertainty into global markets. Every decision is weighed down by cost factors. Every major move by the company is under close scrutiny by economic hawks. The markets are waiting to see you buckle under pressure. During such times of economic chaos, the light at the end of the tunnel exists for Corporations in the form of Outsourcing. Businesses long figured it out that, as long as they keep the focus on their core business, they can siphon off the resource intensive allied business processes to low cost centers across the globe. Over the years, the outsourcing industry has grown by leaps and bounds and has been a major catalyst in the process of globalisation. More and more companies from US and Europe have been outsourcing to low cost centres like India, China, Philippines, Romania, etc. The driving factor behind outsourcing has been cost benefits and during times of economic turbulence this strategy becomes more essential.According to an article on one of the Industry Analyst sites ’Tekrati’, Outsourcing has become more or less ’recession-proof’. In other words, a recessive market does not seem to affect outsourcing. In fact, it has been observed that outsourcing is an effective tool in the arsenal of the corporations to deal with the economic crunch. A smart outsourcing strategy can actually help a company remain competitive and survive the lean period better than other companies who refuse to adopt this method. This theory seems to have some substance, since in such a chaotic market, IT outsourcing giants such as Wipro, Infosys, TCS and other many BPO firms have posted profits in Q4.

Small and medium businesses also look forward to utilise outsourcing effectively to offset their costs of operations too. Many leading online marketplaces offer these companies a platform to outsource their work to willing service providers from low cost centers across the globe. This enables them to remain competitive and sustain operations through a recession.
These online global marketplaces bring talent within the reach of small and medium enterprises at reasonable costs thus saving them lots of money. In all probability, sites such as Lime Exchange will find a surge in the number of projects being posted everyday on their boards. This surge can be traced back to the economic crisis where critical work needs to be executed without compromise on quality and productivity at relatively lower costs. Just like the TCS, Genpact and Convergys of the world, online marketplaces such as Guru, Elance, Lime Exchange, etc may also witness an increase in their profits because of their services as an indispensable partner who helps brave the economic storm. It is heartening to see the outsourcing giants and the online marketplaces playing a crucial role during times of recession by helping companies and families alike to survive. Competitive companies mean lesser overheads and therefore lesser layoffs. It can be truly said without any doubt that this time around we may found a solution to deal with recession ’Just outsource it’