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Review
. 2023 Aug 7;9(8):e19018.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19018. eCollection 2023 Aug.

What we know about the trends, prospects, and challenges of human resource outsourcing: A systematic literature review

Md Nazmus Sakib  1 , Fariya Tabassum  2 , Dr Md Mesbah Uddin  3
Affiliations
Review

What we know about the trends, prospects, and challenges of human resource outsourcing: A systematic literature review

Md Nazmus Sakib et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

This study aims to comprehensively review the literature on human resource outsourcing (HRO) published from 2001 to 2021. The study begins with metadata analysis on 69 papers and presents insights into 32 papers on HRO identified from the Scopus and ISI Web of Science databases. The literature is classified based on content analysis, which comprises conceptual understanding, drivers and barriers, functions outsourced, and firm performance. The study reveals that cost advantage, organisational learning, and the opportunity to concentrate on core business functions motivate the organisation to practice HRO. However, the lack of psychological contact among current employees, the risk of opportunism in the freelancing organisation, lack of management legislation, and prior experience are the common barriers to HRO adoption. Despite thesedrawbacks and barriers, recruitment, payroll processing, and technology-centric human resource (HR) activities are standard HR functions outsourced by organisations. The contributions of this study are to offer an integrated and conclusive definition of HRO and provide a simple, easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive framework for understanding HRO practices in any organisation. Researchers and academicians can utilize this paper to explore future research directions while gaining a thorough understanding of the HRO concept.

Keywords: HR outsourcing; HRO; Human resource outsourcing; Post Covid HRO; Systematic literature review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA method utilized in the study [31].
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Word Cloud for the most common words in HRO publications.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The placement of the word “outsourcing” in the definition
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
A HRO framework
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Mishra D., et al. Outsourcing decision: do strategy and structure really matter? Journal of Organisational Change Management. 2018;31(1):26–46.
    1. Butler M.G., Callahan C.M. Human resource outsourcing: market and operating performance effects of administrative HR functions. J. Bus. Res. 2014;67(2):218–224.

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