One In Five Large European Companies Eyes Offshoring

Nearly one in five companies in Europe is thinking about offshoring activities to a foreign country in the next two years, a study claimed on Oct. 6. Research by British real estate group Cushman and Wakefield said that 17% of mainly western European companies were weighing the decision, with half of them considering eastern and central Europe.

The survey, conducted in June and July with executives from 501 companies, revealed that 61% of them were thinking about moving their production activities and 15% were considering a foreign call center. Besides eastern and central Europe, 25% of respondents said that China was a possible destination, followed by other western European countries (25%), India (23%), Latin America (10%) and South Africa (3%).

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005