Babu Venkatachalapathy
August 2, 2022
Offshore Staffing is the practice of hiring employees overseas to take up some part of your business operations. Offshoring is a method of outsourcing that has been around for a long time. Its origin dates back to the 1960s, when developed nations offshored manufacturing services to other countries. Lee Kuan Yew, the then Prime Minister of Singapore, who is widely known for his economic legacies, said, “If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you’re putting yourself out of business.”
Offshore staffing as an effective business strategy
Today, large companies like Amazon, Apple, Ikea, and American Express depend on offshoring for functions like customer billing, inventory management, supply chain, and more. It can do wonders for your business too. Here are five key benefits of offshore staffing which will compel you to consider implementing the offshore model of staffing as an effective business strategy.
1. Addressing the Talent Shortage
A recent study by Korn Ferry predicts that there will arise a global talent shortage of more than 85 million people by 2030. As a result, economies are estimated to lose about $8.5 trillion annually in unrealized revenues!
The skill gap is evident in the US as the number of jobs exceeds the number of workers available to take them up. This is where offshoring presents a viable solution. By sourcing competent candidates from talent-rich countries, offshore staffing helps you address the talent shortage and optimize your business functions for improved efficiency.
2. Scalable
Offshoring is undoubtedly the most scalable business model. Offshore staffing ensures maximum returns on your investments by helping you save up on many expenses (as mentioned later in this article) while providing the highest work standards.
A global workforce introduces you to new markets and helps you establish yourself as a global brand. Not only that, but it also ensures the continuity of your business functions as each team member alternates between time zones. This helps you stay awake for a client call 24×7, thus increasing your credibility in the market.
3. Highly cost-effective
Providing best-in-class services or top-quality products need not require big bucks. Here’s how offshore business processing offers extensive opportunities for cost-saving at each step.
- Employee salaries
Offshore employees can be hired at wages much lower than those in the homeland. Countries like India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines, are some of the world’s best offshoring destinations. They offer abundant opportunities for hiring skilled talent at a reasonable remuneration due to the modest cost of living at these places.
According to livingcost.org, the average cost of living in the US is about 79% higher than that in India. So, if you were to hire an IT professional from the US, it would cost you a lot more than that from India for the same work.
- Cost of Infrastructure
Offshoring helps you significantly reduce the real-estate costs since your offshore employees work remotely, and thus you need not maintain any office space for them. Alongside, you also get to save on the cost of buying and maintaining equipment in the office.
- Hiring & Training costs
Offshoring usually involves hiring skilled professionals who already have years of experience to their credit. You need not spend anything on their initial training or orientation. They can start contributing to your organization right from day one onwards.
4. It comes with the Assurance of Quality Hiring
Quality hiring is one of the main concerns recruiters have on their minds. But with the offshore model, you need not worry. Offshoring staffing benefits you by helping you access a global pool of professional talent ready to match your work’s quality standards. By bringing on board the hard-to-find skills of your offshore employees, you set yourself up for sure-shot success.
But how and where to find such competent candidates? After all, your search is not limited to specific geography, the entire globe is your potential talent pool! This is where the expertise of an offshore staffing company comes in handy. With access to a vast pool of skilled professionals, offshore staffing services can help you hire smarter, faster, and better.
5. Facilitates Round-the-clock Business Operation
The time zone difference between your offshore and in-house teams offers a major advantage in business continuity. While your team in one country retires to sleep, the one across the border gets up and running for the day’s work. This helps your business operate round the clock and achieve as many as 24 hours of operation.
This not only helps you take up more work but also reduces the turnaround time for existing projects. Additionally, this enables you to be available 24×7 so that you can support your client whenever they call you out.
6. Opportunity for going global
Having a network of employees across borders establishes you as a global brand. You hold the potential to touch the lives of people across diverse geographies. With an excellent opportunity to market your brand internationally, you gain the attention of clients to whom you might have otherwise not been able to connect.
Apart from that, having global employees lets you leverage resources that might be unavailable in your area- be it technology, raw material, or even some services available only locally.
7. Allows your In-house team to focus on Core Competencies
By offshoring some of the mundane tasks like payroll processing, cold calling, data entry, and more, you can free up your in-house team to carry out core tasks. They can then focus their time and attention on tasks central to your business, including marketing strategy, growth strategy, business development, and more.
Offshore staffing benefits you by off-loading your in-house team of repetitive tasks. This helps your team work smartly, thereby improving their work efficiency, thus a win-win for everyone!
Conclusion
Offshoring is one of the must-adopt intelligent strategies for business growth, expansion, and diversification. Having a team of reliable offshore workers can take your business efficiency and profits to another level and help you stay ahead of the competition.