The downpour isn’t a torrent anymore …The world is still recovering from the effects of the global economic crisis. And while it may be years until everybody’s able to go back to pre-crisis form, most industries, including the outsourcing industry, now have a sunny outlook for the future.

A day before the release of the 4^th quarter financial results of outsourcing company Convergys Corporation (NYSE:CVG), they announced plans to lay off many of its employees, without disclosing how many and which locations would be affected.

In an aggressive attempt of major technology manufacturing firms to diversify its markets for more consistent revenue streams, they have been buying and bidding for business process outsourcing services firms.

“Not just a place to take a vacation”- that’s what the Philippines is now becoming with the trend of the BPO sector in the country. Right now the Philippines ranks 2nd in the offshore BPO services globally. The country would be hosting its first Outsourcing summit organized by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) where delegates from around the globe would be able to discuss the direction of the industry. As the hosting country, this provides the Philippines with the golden opportunity to showcase its assets and advantages as a choice for outsourcing needs which includes geographical preference, cost and quality of labor.

Company leaders are compelled to creatively move their businesses to profitability by unloading excess baggage and looking for new markets. Hence, a growing number of companies are divesting to achieve a leaner structure and at the same time looking for new markets to tap into.

News on layoffs has become a norm nowadays. Some blame it on the economic slowdown, some on political bureaucracy while others blame it on offshore outsourcing. There could be a number of reasons for the job cuts but it all boils down to “cost reduction”.

Last March 26th, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published IBM’s application to patent a system that automates the process of offshoring IT jobs. On the same day IBM gave layoff notices to 5,000 U.S. workers.  Critics argue that the timing of IBM’s patent application clearly gave the reason for the layoffs. Another interesting fact is the time when IBM submitted the application – September 24, 2007. According to The Register, “it was submitted in September 2007, just a week before IBM withdrew its offshoring patent. At the time, Big Blue said that the first patent was an error: it breached an IBM policy introduced in 2006 that vetted business method applications for “significant technical content”.”