© Copyright 2006 Rogers Publishing Ltd. The following article first appeared in the August 2005 edition of BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
Fact Check: Outsource this
 
HR Outsourcing—north and south.
 
By Anna Sharratt

Outsourcing is on the increase in Canada and in the U.S. While currently restricted to certain areas, such as IT and data centre administration, HR administration and call centres are areas sponsors plan to increasingly outsource during the next three years. Some recent findings:

Percentage of Canadian respondents who outsource HR administration: 34%

Percentage who plan to outsource HR administration in three years: 46%

Percentage of Canadian plan sponsors who outsource their HR call centre: 16%

Percentage who plan to outsource their HR call centre in three years: 32%

Percentage of 129 U.S. companies surveyed who outsource at least one HR function: 94%

The most popular services to be outsourced among U.S. companies surveyed: outplacement services 91%, employee assistance programs 89%, and defined contribution or 401k plans 83%

Areas expected to see a growth in outsourcing among U.S. firms: leave management, learning and development, payroll, recruiting, health and welfare and global mobility

What U.S. respondents say they look for in a provider:

93%say prior experience/track record
85%say HR process expertise
83%say service level agreements in contracts
65%say cost savings guarantees in contracts
65%say leading-edge technology

Number of survey participants in U.S. who do not have a company-wide outsourcing strategy: six in 10

Source: Hewitt Associates