To outsource or to keep in-house? The growing challenge and concern faced by business leaders around the world as we struggle with rapidly changing market conditions. The population keeps growing, but it seems to get harder and harder to find the right skills for the job, especially when specialists are required. Thanks to the pandemic, most of the people possessing these skills have realised that they can work from the comfort of their homes, or from a beach in the Bahamas - at least anywhere but the office. The way the world works is changing, whether we like it or not, and managers and companies have to adapt. Those who are willing to embrace the new way of working will benefit greatly, but those who refuse to change will ultimately be left with nothing but the bottom of the barrel.

Going with the flow of globalisation, embracing the shift to a hybrid workforce and understanding what to outsource and what to keep in-house will become drivers of success and growth for startups and enterprise companies alike. In this article, we will explore what and when to outsource and when to keep projects in-house.

Some trends influencing the state of work in 2022 and beyond

Outsourcing

It is possible that the company that you are working with has considered outsourcing some work before. Outsourcing is a major trend right now in the world and it shows in the amount of money that companies are spending on a global scale.

It is expected that companies will spend around $731 billion in 2023! (Exploding Topics) However, people tend to forget that outsourcing comes with a lot of benefits. Besides cutting labour costs and solving capacity issues, research conducted by Statista has shown that 57% of companies outsource non-core components for them to shift their focus to their core activities (Statista).

Hybrid Working

You might guess the second trend already; hybrid working. Hybrid working is something we’ve all experienced during the pandemic and it is globally still a massive, ongoing trend. Bryan Robinson, PhD claims that remote working is here to stay and it will not disappear anytime soon. Nevertheless, 25% of all professional jobs will be remote by the end of 2022 and it seems it will increase in the upcoming year as well (Forbes). The combination of digitalisation and the shift to a more knowledge-based economy has created the option for remote work and hybrid working has become more realistic for both employers and employees. As a matter of fact, the opportunity of working from home became a crucial factor for employees when considering a new job (Statista).

A model for outsourcing

Whenever you’re doubting whether you should outsource, or keep a task or a project in-house, you should ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I have people with the right skills on my team?
2. How urgent is the task?
3. And finally; Is it a recurring project for which I need to hire someone fulltime? 

Based on these questions, you should know your answer, what you should outsource and what you can keep in-house.

Do you have the skills in-house?

The first question you’re asking yourself is “do I have the right skills in-house?” It is important to ask yourself this question as skills and resources are scarce in the market. If you have them readily available within your team, then you’re on the right track. If you don’t have the skills and/or expertise, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the end of the world. Believe us, you’re not the only one that is experiencing this - many companies are struggling with this, particularly when the skills required are considered to be specialised. Without specific skills and expertise, your team won’t be able to execute the projects and tasks effectively, and you might want to consider sourcing them via a third party.

How urgent is the task?

“How urgent is the task?” “Is there a hard deadline for this project?” Something that teams tend to forget to do is prioritise the tasks and projects in their backlog. Prioritising your backlog helps you to see the urgency in all the tasks you have and it helps you to decide if a task should be outsourced or stay in-house. If a project has high urgency and high impact, can you deploy resources on it right away, or will it come at the cost of another important project? Outsourcing projects with high impact and urgency allows you to run more than one in parallel, helping you get more done in the same amount of time.

Is it a recurring project for which you need to hire someone fulltime?

The question of whether you should hire someone or not has never been the easiest to answer. Think about if the project or task will be a one-time thing or a recurring one, and how often it will recur. Does it justify hiring someone for 32 to 40 hours a week, or can it be outsourced once, or at set intervals throughout the year? If the answer to this question does not justify hiring a fulltime employee, you will have a much better return on investment by outsourcing the project.

Wrapping it up

Teams are facing this challenge more and more and the decision to outsource or keep in-house has become a daily occurrence for some companies. If you find yourself facing this struggle, it’s time to make sure that you have a solid strategy in place to determine what and how you will outsource.

Working with an outsourcing company can be a great way to help you navigate the scarcity of talents and manage your backlog, to help you and your team make the most of the time and resources you have available. Talk to an outsource specialist today to see how we can help you get the work done that you don’t get to!