Less than half of US and European corporates say outsourcing is cost effective, says survey

Three-quarters of US and European multinationals use outsourcing or shared services to support their financial functions although less than half of them consider outsourcing to be cost effective, according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers' Management Barometer Survey. US corporates lie marginally ahead of their European counterparts in their willingness to outsource, with 77% compared to 72% outsourcing some portion of the finance function in the past two years. Outsourcing providers will also be cheered by news that 29% of US and European corporates expect to increase the level of outsourcing in their finance functions, with a concomitant rise in spending expected to be 16% above today's levels.