Offshore Staffing Trends in 2024: KPO, Automation, and More

With the market constantly evolving, one industry remains the face of change and keeps thriving post-pandemic: offshore staffing.

Case in point: the Philippines, one of the world’s offshore staffing and outsourcing hotspots. A SEEK Asia study found that more than half (52%) of the Filipino workforce had already been working remotely since the pandemic started. Morever, remote workers grew by 85% at least a year after 2020 when most companies had already transitioned to a hybrid setup. 

Four years later, as we step into a new year, where are we with offshore staffing? Let’s go through the key industry trends you can consider for increasing your business efficiency in 2024.

1. Ecosystem-Based Outsourcing

Ecosystem-based outsourcing involves creating a network of third-party service providers rather than relying on just one organization. This approach allows businesses to broaden their reach by gaining access to more specialized service providers whom they can tap to handle specific aspects of their operations. 

By doing away with the traditional single-vendor practice, businesses adapt to their operations’ ever-changing requirements and get customized solutions that deliver more agile results. 

Ecosystem-based outsourcing also cultivates camaraderie, collaboration, and healthy competition among vendors, enabling them to learn from each other’s best practices and habits.

See also: Top Reasons to Hire a Remote Team in the Philippines

2. AI and Automation-Powered Processes

As artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies continue to grow, they will still play a key role in the offshore staffing and outsourcing industry in 2024. These innovations help businesses achieve lower management and operational costs, significantly reduce errors, and increase efficiency.

From streamlining processes to reducing manual intervention and costs, businesses are keen to tap AI to make all these happen. Because of this, offshore staffing companies are seen to incorporate AI into their services to provide their clients with a more seamless quality of service. 

Moreover, offshore partners and outsourcing service providers offer AI-driven features such as robotic process automation (RPA), which significantly reduces errors in data collection, entry, and analysis. A recent study by Grand View Research shows that the global RPA market is expected to see an annual growth rate of 39.9% from 2023 to 2030, cementing RPA’s role in the outsourcing business. 

3. Reinforcing Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

When most industries went digital, so did the criminals. Cyber threats, data breaches, hacking, and other cybercrimes continue to threaten the information security of businesses worldwide.

With this, companies have become more careful with choosing their offshore partners and service providers. They do due diligence to make sure they implement strict cybersecurity measures and adhere to data privacy regulations.

In 2024 and beyond, we expect an increasing demand for offshoring and outsourcing companies with advanced cybersecurity protocols, as businesses see its value for protecting their business and customer data.

Protecting our clients’ data is a priority at Penbrothers. Our cybersecurity and data privacy measures include the following:

1. Full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Philippine Data Privacy Act
2. Fortiguard Unified Threat Management (UTM) for protection via security appliance on network level
3. SSL VPN secured and encrypted connection for remote users and VLAN segmentation for on-premise users
4. Cloud storage subscriptions for secure data management

Related article: 8 Common Myths on Offshore Teams Debunked

4. Rise of the Knowledge Process Outsourcing Market

Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), a trend that began in the 1980s, is expected to grow considerably between 2024 and 2031 based on the latest KPO Market Research Report.

KPO allows companies to focus on their core business while ensuring that other business functions run smoothly.

Unlike the typical outsourced services such as HR operations and payroll, KPO requires expertise in product innovation, research and development, management improvement, and other fields that require analytical skills. In this kind of offshoring service, highly skilled professionals are given access to their principal’s operations, accounting books, and even trade secrets for them to complete their projects efficiently.

See also: Offshoring to the Philippines: A Viable Solution to Global Talent Challenges

5. Cloud-Based Outsourcing

Cloud-based outsourcing has emerged in the past couple of years and is expected to become a more integral part of working with offshore teams in 2024 and beyond. This outsourcing model offers services in data storage, software development functions, and IT infrastructure management. 

Such an outsourcing model features adaptability and scalability, two of today’s sought-after features. It also uses encryption and other data security technologies, which have also become non-negotiables for companies seeking to outsource their business functions.

Final Thoughts

To stay agile and competitive in this fast and constantly-changing market, leverage the most useful and relevant offshore staffing trends to your business. Make things easier for you by partnering with an offshore staffing company with a strong track record for hiring topnotch remote talents.