According to the latest annual report published by A. T. Kearney deteriorating cost advantages and improved labour quality are two key factors that caused a dramatic shift in preferred outsourcing locations in 2009.
The global management company ranked the 50 most attractive outsourcing destinations worldwide by locating IT service preferences, including IT support, contact centres and back-office support. The main aspects considered in the ranking process were: financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment.

Findings in the Global Services Location Index (GSLI) report reflect that a global operating model based on the published list is hard to be sketched on the global map as we experience a dynamically shifting global outsourcing market as a result of political and security risk re-assessment, labour arbitrage and skills requirements.
While India, China and Malaysia retain their leading position as a major outsourcing hub since the inaugural GSLI in 2004, a fundamental shift in the index has taken place as once strong Central European countries have yielded ground to countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

The once premier outsourcing locations including Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary have fallen in rank because of increased costs and wage inflation, while new leaders came to the scene. Best score earned Romania – climbing from the 39th to 19th position, while Russia moved from 37th to 33th and Ukraine from 47 to 42.
“While cost remains a major driver in decisions about where to outsource, the quality of the labour pool is gaining importance as companies view the labour market through a global lens driven by talent shortages at home, particularly in higher, value-added functions,” said Norbert Jorek, a partner with A.T. Kearney and managing director of the firm’s Global Business Policy Council. “In response, governments all over the world are investing in the human capital demanded by the offshoring industry.”
The complete results of this year’s Index are provided below. A more detailed analysis and information on regional performance can be found at www.atkearney.com.

*Based on lower-cost locations in each country: San Antonio (U.S.), Belfast (UK), Leipzig (Germany) and Marseilles (France).