Singapore – Regional HR managers are the driving force behind BPO processes in the Asian region, according to a new survey by IDC.

The study found that this is a marked shift from previous years where the decisions were made from corporate headquarters in the US or Europe. IDC’s research manager for Asia/Pacific BPO Services Research, Conrad Chang accredited this to the fact that HR is an earlier adopter of BPO. “Previously, such decisions [to outsource] were made in the organisation’s corporate headquarters in the US or Europe but regional HR departments are fast becoming more influential.”

The study also found that most HR BPO processes that are outsourced are due to the automated and volume based nature, and the lack of strategic sense involved.

HR BPO in APEJ (Asia Pacific, excluding Japan) is expected to grow from approximately US$1.4 billion in 2006 to US$2.5 billion by 2011.