Offshoring has proved to be a viable business model with multiple advantages to the enterprise. However, as with the enterprise, there are multiple challenges faced by global offfshoring platforms.
The single biggest worry for offshoring platforms is the availability of talent which has progressively become a cause of concern for enterprises. With almost all major enterprises outsourcing their work, it is important to have a strategy to source talent and to retain them. Entry-level recruitment and employment is not a problem with so many fresh graduates with good language skills, available readily in the job market. The problem is more intense for the third-party outsourcing companies.
Another worry for enterprises which outsource is the high rate of attrition in the BPO industry in India. Estimates peg attrition rate at nearly 35%, and this varies from 20% in the larger firms to up to 40% in
the smaller ones. The reasons are many — high stress levels, monotonous nature of the job, demand-supply disparity, and lack of career growth potential.
Other challenges include communication, managing and meeting customer expectations, working in different time zones, technology, and infrastructure.