outsourcing
outsourcing Lexical Profile
outsourcing Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The business practice of hiring an outside party or external supplier to perform services or create goods that were traditionally handled in-house by the company's own employees.
"The firm turned to outsourcing to manage its customer support and payroll operations more cost-effectively."
• verb
To obtain goods or a service from an outside or foreign supplier, or to contract specific business functions out to an external provider (present participle of outsource).
"The company is outsourcing its software maintenance to a specialized agency."
Word Nuance & Usage
'Outsourcing' refers to contracting tasks to an external third-party provider (whether domestic or international), whereas 'offshoring' specifically means relocating business operations to another country (even if kept within the same company).
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the late 1970s in business and economics jargon as a blend of 'outside', 'resourcing', and 'sourcing'.