Research firm IDC forecasts staffing and recruitment spending to reach $92 billion globally by 2009 (Source: ERE media study) and RPO services stand a good chance of garnering a large portion of this spending. India, with its huge talent pool, rich experience in outsourcing and a fast growing domestic market has the opportunity to establish itself as a preferred destination for recruitment process outsourcing. While the Indian domestic RPO market is still nascent and largely restricted to addressing the US market, the high level of recruitment taking place in the local market in the IT-ITES, retail and financial services industry presents the perfect environment for the industry to build scale. The beginning has been made with Wipro BPO having outsourced its recruitment process and other IT/BPO players evaluating similar options. Apart from the cost advantage, the processes are seen as a way to control attrition in the Indian BPO industry which currently stands at 40%.

Global RPO providers are already offshoring their RPO needs to destinations such as India. RPO providers which were early-adopters of an India-based model are already reaping the rewards. However, countries such as The Philippines and Costa Rica are fast gaining ground due to the increasing number of English-speaking people as well as the lesser time difference from USA. In such a scenario, it is important for India to concentrate on training its manpower so as to maintain an edge over other countries.

To summarize, HR managers need to tap RPO providers to effectively address their talent requirements. Working with an RPO partner will help an organization to identify, assess, and hire the best talent within its industry, thus gaining an edge over competition. In addition to delivering high-quality candidates, an RPO partner can help reduce early employee turnover and fulfill hiring needs quicker. Industry studies in the USA show that within two years, fifty-eight percent of the Fortune 2000 companies will rely on this model. This further strengthens the point that RPO is indeed the answer to the recruitment woes of organizations globally.

The author is Executive Vice- president, RPOWorldwide