Why Knowledge Matters: Growth in HR outsourcing expected

My iGoogle HR Calendar, in a true show of timing, announced today that HR services outsourcing is going to continue to grow 10% annually.

This on the heels of my opining about termination outsourcing services is a definite sign.

The primary reasons cited for the expected growth in HR outsourcing services are the ability to gain outside expertise, the ability to improve quality of service, and the ability to focus on core business activities. All great reasons to to use knowledgeable professionals. Also, all services that a good HR Department can provide...and so the other shoe dropped: the paragraph also stated cost-savings as another driver for outsourcing.

The outsourcing of firings reminds me of a John C Dvorak article of a few years ago, Know-Nothing Knowledge Workers Must Go (PC Mag, Feb 2002)....not because it is an article on reductions in force, but because it described a future where the employees and even their computer and software are essentially outsourced....

"This scenario that I'm going to describe is going to happen someday, because it has to happen someday. It's the most efficient, cheapest, and most hassle-free way of doing things, and eliminates all the true bottlenecks in today's office. Individual workers should first buy and own the computers on which they work. They should take their computers from job to job, upgrade them as they see fit, and individually buy or license the software that they need to do their jobs. They keep the software on their machines, and can move from job to job that way. After all, we've been calling them knowledge workers. Let them show some knowledge."

Something to think about.

Technorati Profile