subject: The Best Places To Outsource Your Jobs To [print this page] With individuals and businesses all over the world making the most of outsourcing and offshoring, its now becoming clear to see that some parts of the world are definitely more ideal than others.
The chief executive of a Leeds-based multinational engineering firm has suggested that many UK manufacturers have taken a liking to continental Europe for outsourcing, rather than places in the Far East.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, 600 Group boss David Norman noted that some Asian countries lacked the skills to manufacture high-end devices. The company bought a factory in Poland earlier this year and is now looking to Europe as part of its growth strategy.
If its high volume and repetitive, then China is quite a good place to do it, he said. If youve got high logistics costs, low volume and high priority, its much better to do it in a central and Eastern Europe country.
Mr Norman added that it made sense to expand in Eastern Europe than the UK or the Far East due to the relative shortage of skills, and pointed out that overheads and labour costs in Poland were modest.
His comments came after construction services group Carillion issued a confident forecast for its prospects in 2012, predicting that cutbacks in local authority spending will open up a range of outsourcing opportunities for them. In its latest trading statement, the Wolverhampton-based group tipped its support services division to experience significant growth next year, as local authorities across the UK look to adapt to central government spending cuts.
Outsourcing by public sector organisations continues to account for a major proportion of our current bidding activity and pipeline, consistent with our expectations that substantial growth, as a result of increased public sector outsourcing, would only come through during 2012 and beyond, the company stated.
An expert has also urged public sector bodies, in particular, to make sure they have a clear set of intended outcomes agreed at the outset, when considering outsourcing some of their functions and services.
Speaking at an event organised by Public Finance and Civica, National Outsourcing Association board member Paul Robb urged councils to avoid becoming completely dependent on third-party providers, but that it could definitely help to deliver savings and improve efficiency nonetheless.
However, Mr Robb insisted that setting out a clear framework before entering into an agreement is crucial and suggested outcomes should form the basis of the bidding process. He questioned whether mutualising some local authority departments would prove practical, warning that even highly-skilled professionals can often lack business know-how, which could prove criticalCentre for Public Service Partnerships Deputy Director Sarah Phillips noted that while much of the ideological opposition to outsourcing had dissipated over the last 20 years, the frontloading of government spending cuts could render public-private link-ups ineffective due to the required timeframe.
