Umbrella company contractors who work in administrative roles could benefit from the decision of one of the UK’s leading building societies.
The Leeds Building Society has decided to outsource its admin work because there is too much of it to handle in-house. The Society has now begun a pilot scheme to farm out the work to qualified professionals.
UK companies are increasingly looking to streamline and one way of doing this is to outsource some of the work. Becky Hewitt, the head of HR and the Leeds Building Society, said the company was eager to pass the administrative burden to the experts. Outsourcing is the right choice for the Society as it frees up internal resources to concentrate on other priorities.
There are a lot of benefits to be gained from outsourcing including finding financial improvements, making efficiency gains and helping companies survive the current economic problems and emerging more positively.
The Leeds pilot scheme intends to outsource a number of roles including admin and communications work and full regulatory reporting. Suitably skilled contractors will be able to benefit and freelancers could gain some lucrative contracts. At the same time, outsourcing companies may look to recruit new staff to cope with the increased demand.
More companies outsourcing their work is obviously good news for the contracting community, but what do employees feel about it? HMRC staff have held industrial action over proposals to bring in outside contractors to man their call centres. Will employees in other organisations feel threatened by outside labour and do the same?
