Additional demands for an expanding business require additional workforce as well. The design department needs more employees for new product designs. The landscaping team demands another architect that can help in restoring the facade of an old building. Remote employees should be trained as a part of their onboarding. For this, additional sets of HR teams are required to keep the operation going.

Hiring additional in-house employees may be beneficial for enterprises, but can be a burden to small businesses. Limited budget hinders these businesses to support additional employee. And an expert is needed to handle these HR responsibilities.

It’s natural for businesses to look for ways to grow and expand while saving a lot of resources and maintaining good performance. Different strategies and trends have come up over time, including business process outsourcing.

Gone are the days when outsourcing is exclusive for big enterprises, especially telecommunication companies. The latest technology advancements made outsourcing possible for small businesses and startups. Most overseas BPO companies even offer cheap labor and operation costs for their services which help generate big savings for their clients. Aside from customer support services, businesses can now outsource different roles such as software development, accounting, and even human resource management.

Benefits of Outsourcing HR
Outsourcing HR tasks can benefit even small businesses in different ways:

1.Software as a Service (SaaS) advantage. Companies use SaaS to accomplish HR tasks such as recruitment screening, applicant tracking, employee onboarding and training, and payroll. This is to ensure a more efficient process and more accurate reports for their clients.

2. Expertise in compliance. PEO companies can comply with whatever legal and documentary requirements in employment are needed to avoid non-compliance. This minimizes the legal and documentary liabilities a company can face.

3. Better handling for employees. Businesses experience better and more professional employee handling. Employees are trained better with professional training and employee handbooks, while policies and procedures of the company have a stricter implementation. With this, workplace turnover is reduced and more talented employees are attracted to the company.

4. Reduced labor costs. Businesses save on labor costs for outsourcing HR tasks instead of hiring new or additional in-house employees, generating bigger savings and profit to the company.

5. Access to a better benefit. Businesses that outsource their HR have better access to benefits for their employees such as health insurance, HMOs, and investment options that help them develop financial stability and readiness for the future.

6. More focus on core management tasks. Outsourcing tasks give the management more focus on the growth and expansion of their businesses.


Top 5 Countries to Outsource HR
Tholons’ Top 50 Nations gives an insight into the top countries in outsourcing today. They are measured according to the current workforce in the industry, the skills of the employees, the technology that they use, and the quality of the infrastructures for the workforce. Among the countries on the list are Asian countries such as India and the Philippines that boast its cheap labor and resources due to its low standards of living.

The Philippines
A continuously developing country, the BPO industry in the Philippines is rapidly growing over time. The country has its edge among other Asian countries because of its westernized culture, English proficiency, and the embodiment of Filipino traits in the workplace, especially hospitality. This makes it easier for agents to connect and communicate with their clients. Filipino employees are also flexible when it comes to schedule, making it easy to fit their work hours with their clients to give them the best service their clients deserve.

The Government encourages more foreign investors, particularly BPO companies, to invest in the country with benefits such as tax holidays and duty-free import of equipment. Thus, giving them the opportunity to invest in the latest equipment and technology needed for the job.

India
India is the leading country in outsourcing and has been in the industry for a long time. India highlights its nine-hour time zone difference, 24/7 availability, and quality service with quick turnaround time. Like in different countries, the workforce of India boasts a wide range of specialization that makes it easier to give their clients the service they need.

Like in the Philippines, foreign investors are encouraged to put up more IT-related businesses, especially BPOs, to further strengthen the industry and generate more jobs. Company benefits here include tax holidays and access to a wide range of talents from different institutions in the country.

Brazil
The outsourcing law in Brazil enabled its outsourced employees to work on primary services such as HR and administrative work, customer support, and IT-related activities. The confirmation took effect last 2017 with the law determining what tasks should be outsourced aside from secondary services such as maintenance and janitorial services.

Still, it’s one of the leading countries to outsource IT and HR services. Aside from the work force’s strong English proficiency and its high GDP, the country highlights its low turnover rate and more compatibility to the West since it is a nearshore country that has minimal time zone differences from the US in particular.  

Poland
Despite its small population, Poland is a rising country in outsourcing since 2005. Most of its clients are startups and small businesses. The country’s strong cybersecurity and IT-related specialization give it an edge when it comes to using SaaS and HR databases. BPO companies in the country also have a result-focused work ethic familiar to most organizations and businesses in the West, enabling them to give more accurate and high-quality results for their outsourced work.

Despite this, outsourcing in Poland and other Eastern and Central European countries almost have the same labor costs as Asian countries. This makes them one of the cheapest regions for outsourcing.

China
Last but not least, China ranked second in the AT Kearney 2019 Global Report alongside India. This country started outsourcing through manufacturing and is now an emerging BPO country. The government’s continued support in the industry and the strong workforce gives China an edge in the industry, along with continuous efforts to build its English proficiency. The country highlights IT-related services and support as its primary specialization.

Since 2017, it is predicted that the country will dethrone the Philippines, even India, in the rankings, though more years will come for the continuous growth of the industry in the two countries.