While many foreign companies are tentative when it comes to outsourcing work, the majority of New Zealand businesses are eagerly embracing the concept, according to research from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR).

The IBR study states that 60% of businesses around the world don’t outsource or have any immediate plans to outsource. This is in stark contrast to many New Zealand companies, with over half of businesses (52%) either already outsourcing or plan to outsource work, ranking us 9th out of the 45 economies surveyed.

A key ingredient in this figure is the size of businesses here in New Zealand. We are predominantly a country of SMEs and for many business owners, it’s just not cost-effective or totally impractical to try and carry out all business activities within the company.

Of the New Zealand businesses surveyed by Grant Thornton:
– 77% outsource IT
– 73% outsource tax
– 62% outsource accounting
– 35% outsource financial services
– 35% outsource HR

The IBR report further states that even though overseas businesses are aware of the cost savings and process efficiencies outsourcing can provide, many are worried about losing control of key processes.

Outside New Zealand, there is a misguided belief that outsourcing a process means a business loses control, whereas, in fact, outsourcing can actually help senior leaders at dynamic companies take a step back and gain a clearer picture of how the business is performing against its strategy.

While outsourcing does give away an element of control, and there is a section of New Zealand business that is reluctant to outsource for this very reason, it does mean that organizations can tap into expertise on an ‘as needs’ basis. It means you can get top quality advice which is not a fixed overhead. We Kiwis see this as logical, but judging from the IBR report, the same can’t be said for the rest of the world.

On a related note, I’ve noticed that in the past year or so, there has been quite a shift to outsourcing amongst middle-sized companies in New Zealand where they have taken out the in-house accounting section and replaced it with external teams under their control.

The Deployed offshore staffing model was created with exactly these situations in mind; helping New Zealand businesses find experienced staff in the Philippines at just a fraction of the domestic cost, with the business owners retaining full management ownership of their offshore resources—like having a permanent staff member who works from home.

Deployed can help you set up your own dedicated remote team. Whatever role (accountants, bookkeepers, graphic designers, copywriters, SEO experts, social media specialists, web developers, etc.) or the number of people you need, our extensive network and reach across all sectors of the industry ensures you get your pick of the best talents available.

Interested to know more? Click here to find out how you can make outsourcing work for you with the Deployed offshore staffing platform.