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According to Indian BPO firm, WNS Holdings, the continuing negative press coverage of offshore outsourcing in the United States could impact their future performance.
As outsourcing in a politically sensitive topic in the U.S., the trend of outsourcing could invariably reverse itself on the heels of a major recession in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
WNS said in a statement in its yearly filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, “Our business may not develop in ways that we currently anticipate due to negative public reaction to offshore outsourcing, proposed legislation or otherwise,” the Economic Times reported.
WNS is responsible for coming up with data, analytical and voice services to businesses world-wide. In the year ending figures for March 31, 2009, the company reported earning of over $539.3 million. “Many organizations and public figures in the UK and the US have publicly expressed concern about a perceived association between offshore outsourcing providers and the loss of jobs in their home countries,” WNS continued to say.
In previous statements, IT bellweather Infosys stated that any move to curb offshore outsourcing and to restrict work visas would negatively impact business. This comes amid the Obama administration’s proposal to halt tax incentives involved in creation of jobs overseas. In addition to that, U.S. has put a freeze on H1B visa-holders at firms that the Federal government has bailed out during the credit crunch.
“Any slowdown or reversal of existing industry trends towards offshore outsourcing would seriously harm our ability to compete effectively with competitors that operate out of facilities located in the UK or the US,” WNS added in an online news report.
Additionally, WNS commentated that there has been a spread of negative experiences related to offshoring, i.e. theft and misappropriation of client information, especially with regard to companies that outsource to India.