Outsource Magazine

Is it just me or has there been more movin’-and-shakin’ of people in the outsourcing industry of late?  Hardly a week goes by without an announcement in one form or another of a “strategic acquisition of senior talent” or in other words, someone getting a new job at a different supplier.  In the days of the trusty paper Rolodex, this hopping around from one supplier to the next would have caused a serious headache – thank goodness for easy updates on Outlook.

What is causing this? There are two reasons. Firstly, after a bunny-in-the-headlights response lasting through all of 2009 and the first half of 2010, buy-side executives have a renewed confidence in the economy and the embargos/blocks on any organisational change and investment are long gone.  The market has picked up and there is once again appetite for outsourcing, which means a renewed appetite in recruiting top talent.

The second is more strategic and is being driven primarily by the Indian heritage ITO suppliers, who, if you look towards the likes of Cognizant (being the perfect example of my point), are hungry to build a solid BPO capability to offer a full suite of services to clients, and compete head on with the Tier 1 Big Boys. They have been chipping away at the talent pool for quite some time now. It is also interesting (and a clear positive) to see many Indian heritage suppliers recruiting a growing number of western faces and vice versa.

As frustrating as it is to keep on top of who is going where; a healthy recruitment market is always a positive.  And naturally it is going to mean our industry’s brightest faces popping up in new places. As at the end of the day, the best place to get talent is usually your nearest competitor: truth be told, it is not just their experience you are buying, it is their network too.