Outsourcing HRM–what will it mean?
Recently, the Society for Human Resource Management released a report on HR outsourcing. I now have some basis for my predictions about this trend….
According to a summary I read in the Wall Street Journal of this report, 60% of companies outsource some HRM functions. About 50% of those HRM professionals surveyed indicated they thought it would hurt job opportunities, while 25% thought it would increase job opportunities.
The full report is available to SHRM members only on the SHRM website.
I think that like most trends of this nature, outsourcing poses both new threats and new opportunities for HRM folks. One thing it is bound to do is require new and different skill sets on the part of HRM practitioners. HRM specialists (e.g., test experts) will increasingly be found in consulting and outsourcing firms.
From the EMPLOYER perspective, this trend seems clearly to provide more opportunities than threats.
Many smaller employers either have no full-time HR or only an inadequate number of overworked HR generalists.
At least theoretically, the growth of various HR outsourcing and consulting practices will allow such employers to utilize a higher level of skilled assistance on a pay-as-you-go basis (which may be more expensive per hour or per task, but avoids taking on the fixed cost of hiring a specialist on staff).