The study highlights that the recent rise in Employer National Insurance contributions, coupled with mounting compliance and wage obligations, has left UK businesses struggling to remain competitive.
According to the findings, 62% of companies surveyed reported that government-driven increases in employment costs have incentivised them to explore outsourcing their entry-level admin work as a key strategy to ensure business survival.
“Businesses across the UK are constantly telling us the same story: the rising cost of employing staff is eroding margins and threatening viability,” said Michael Kitt (CEO, Kimon Services). “Outsourcing is no longer just a cost-saving measure; it’s become a lifeline. Kimon helps companies navigate this shift responsibly, ensuring they can focus on growth while we deliver skilled, reliable, and most importantly, cost-effective teams to support their operations.”
The study also revealed 24% of the companies interviewed are actively planning to offshore entry-level administrative and customer support roles in the next 12 months and 16% have already begun outsourcing parts of their operations since the most recent Employer NI increase.
Nationwide Building Society has announced plans to transfer around 1,000 back-office and customer support roles to India, covering functions such as data processing, HR, and call-centre operations. Meanwhile, Asda has already outsourced over 100 roles, mainly IT, but indicative of a broader support outsourcing strategy, to an India-based provider
Kimon, which specialises in providing flexible, scalable outsourcing solutions, has seen a 40% year-on-year increase in inquiries from UK-based companies seeking support with entry-level functions such as customer service, finance administration, and back-office operations.
Without government policy adjustments that ease UK-based employment costs, the shift toward outsourcing will likely accelerate, reshaping both how and where entry-level work is performed, and challenging established expectations around domestic hiring.
ENDS