Outsourcing Employment in Nigeria: Contextualizing the Trend in Post-Consolidated Banks

Abstract

Outsourcing employment has become a phenomenon in most work organizations all over the world. In Nigeria, it is a common practice in sectors such as oil and gas, education and information and communication technology. Its positive impact in these areas has been recognized. This study therefore took a panorama of outsourcing by examining its concept, process, theories as well as contextualizing the practice in commercial Banks in Nigeria. The paper adopted a qualitative approach by relying basically on secondary data derived from the literature. Findings show that the banking sector in Nigeria has benefited enormously from outsourcing particularly in cost reduction, increased sales turnover and profitability, enhanced expertise, improved service quality, reduction in staff strength, and maintaining core competencies. However, this paper also noted that outsourcing has its demerits, especially as regards labour relations. Outsourcing has been seen to promote casualization and unconventional work practices especially when not fully executed. The paper therefore recommended organizations wishing to embark on it to be wary of the complexity of the outsourcing process before implementation.

Keywords: Outsourcing, Commercial Banks, Employment, Casualization, Nigeria.