Outsourcing fails to make inroad in staff recruitment

Only one UK employer in five outsources its recruitment activities, according to research.

Despite the increased use of outsourcing in other HR functions such as payroll, a survey of nearly 200 employers by Personnel Today’s sister title IRS Employment Review shows that few have adopted this approach for resourcing activities.

For half of the employers that do not outsource recruitment it is viewed as simply too important a function to place with an external service provider. For four in 10 employers the issue has never been raised.

The rationale for outsourcing is often associated with the expected cost savings. In the IRS research this factor emerges as a major consideration influencing the decision to outsource or not.

This finding challenges the assumption that outsourcing will invariably lead to significant financial savings, the study said.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

www.irsemploymentreview.com

See Personnel Today, 27 September 2005, for a special feature on outsourcing