November 18, 2008

More U.S. engineering, architectural firms send work offshore, poll finds

Outsourcing of project work offshore is rapidly becoming commonplace for many architecture and engineering industry firms, at least in the United States.

Forty-two per cent of companies recently polled by consulting firm ZweigWhite have outsourced some of their services offshore. A similar ZweigWhite study conducted in 2006 found just 19 per cent of firms reporting offshore outsourcing experience.

“This increase of companies with international offshoring experience is significant,” says John Doehring, senior vice-president and head of ZweigWhite’s advisory services group. “Faced with a chronically constrained labour pool and mounting economic and client pressures, more and more firm leaders are considering outsourcing, seeking the benefits of reduced labour cost, increased capacity and faster project turnaround.”

A total of 52 companies responded to the survey.

In Canada, on the other hand, outsourcing does not appear to be as big an issue in the consulting engineering industry, says Jeff Morrison, president of the Association of Canadian Engineering Companies.

“Having said that, however, if the domestic market takes a dive and more firms look to international opportunities, you may see a greater shift towards international partnerships in order to exploit foreign markets.”

Beyond those firms with actual “offshoring” experience, many other firm principals are now seriously considering the offshore outsourcing angle, ZweigWhite said.

Data from the study indicates that only 16 per cent of leaders have not yet considered outsourcing internationally. Only 12 per cent indicated they were not interested in the option at all.

— PATRICIA WILLIAMS

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