Eight notable deals were signed last year around the world. Once again, the U.K. and U.S. were the biggest public-sector buyers of HRO services .
Regular readers of HRO Today will notice an obvious trend in our look at the top public sector deals: the same nations leading the way on the commercial side of HRO engagements are also the leaders on the public sector side: the U.K. and the U.S.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, with outsourcing widely accepted from a business as well as a cultural perspective, it only makes sense that American and British government officials have more broadly embraced the movement. Although HRO is still considered a dirty word in some quarters—in organizations with a strong organized labor presence, for instance—it has made huge strides among government buyers in recent years.
You can bet that more strides will be made. We hear from our sources that the U.S. federal government is on the cusp of making an historic announcement on the use of outsourcing to reduce costs and improve service delivery. The problem with an organization as gigantic as the federal government is it moves at a snail’s pace, and it may be some time before we see regular flows of multimillion-dollar HRO engagement. Nevertheless, such a move would help shatter the taboo of outsourcing.
Another observation you might make is that HRO in the U.K. transcends jurisdictions—meaning that it is occurring on all governmental levels. Will we see HRO practiced at your local town hall one day? That remains to be seen.
Although this listing doesn’t cover dozens of smaller regional deals (many worth less than $1 million), it will give you a look at which public sector organizations are engaging in big buys and the services within scope.
We would like to thank EquaTerra’s Glenn Davidson, who heads up the advisory firm’s public sector practice. He has been an invaluable source of knowledge.
Click here for the entire list of The Top HRO Public Sector Deals. (PDF)
