To the dismay of many, Tiger Wood’s shame has caused this 2008 Highest Paid Athlete to be dropped by one of the foremost BPO Companies. Accenture has been, for the last six years, one of Tiger Wood’s more prominent sponsors. Numerous advertisements including the theme line, “Go on, be a Tiger,” featuring Tiger Woods have been used by Accenture, including photos of him on their website, and slogans. However, with allegations of infidelity currently plaguing him, Accenture decided to end the sponsorship and has been referred to as the ‘first’ of his sponsors to drop him.

If the first few days of a month can be an indication of how well an industry can perform by the months’ end, then this December ’09 should be a great month for the outsourcing industry – barring any mishap of course. Aside from ushering in the holiday season, several different outsourcing companies have ushered in lucrative agreements since the start of December.

Last June, I wrote an article about UBS (UBS) exploring a sale of its BPO and KPO units. In the second week of October, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) bought UBS’ India-based captive service provider for $75 million.

Company leaders are compelled to creatively move their businesses to profitability by unloading excess baggage and looking for new markets. Hence, a growing number of companies are divesting to achieve a leaner structure and at the same time looking for new markets to tap into.

Outsourcing has come through a lot of changes since its inception. Its evolution depends on a number of factors, like how the market reacts, government intervention, partnerships, and geographical positioning to name a few. The industry adapts to changes in the business environment which is crucial to its survival.

UBS’ decision to sell its BPO and KPO units might not come as a surprise as Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) made the same move when it sold its captives in 2008. But the Switzerland-based bank may have made the decision at the wrong time as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) predicts the decline in global outsourcing demand is over.

It is not a question anymore if there is outsourcing need in Europe - the more important question to ask is how to monetize this growing demand. There are several ways of doing it. Outsourcing companies can hire multilingual locals or they can set up operations in Eastern Europe where there are more European-languages speakers who charge at reasonable rates or they can do both.

General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) reported net loss amounting to $6 billion while Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) with only $1.4 billion which was better than analyst projection. Similar with the automotive industry, the technology industry was also dominated by major losses. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) reported a 3 perecent decline in revenue of $27.4 billion, so did Lenovo Group Limited (ADR) (LNVGY.PK) with a quarter loss of $264 million. Outsourcing providers were no exceptions as well; Convergys Corporation (NYSE:CVG) with $21 million loss and TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC) with 8 to 10 percent decline in revenue.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) sent a second wave of layoff notices to more than 3,000 employees. Microsoft issued a public statement regarding the layoffs saying it did it in response to the global economic downturn. And this might not be the end of the flying pink slips as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer explains: “As we move forward, we will continue to closely monitor the impact of the economic downturn on the company and if necessary, take further actions on our cost structure including additional job eliminations.” Though the company is applying cost cutting measures, Microsoft still plans to hire about 2,000 to 3,000 employees this year in some of its growing business segments.

A growing number of companies are sending core business operations overseas. In the auto industry, General Motors (GM) plans to build 23% of the cars it sells in the U.S. in low-cost countries over the next five years, up from current statistics of 15%. According to numerous reports in the first quarter of this year, technology firm International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) also plans to boost its offshoring activities. The following month, IBM issued a press release announcing it had renewed and extended its EUR 3.2 million outsourcing contract with Amway GmbH for three additional years.

On May 4th, U.S. President Obama announced his plans to end tax breaks for US firms expanding overseas as part of fixing a broken tax system saying that it aims to save American taxpayers $210 billion over the next ten years and to generate more jobs in the country. The announcement caused concerns for American multinational firms whose major competitive strategy is to outsource. Both the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and India Inc. dismissed this threat.

ABC News reported last November 2008 that “health policy experts say it may not be long before all Americans feel the impact of what is shaping up to be a national health care disaster”. 55 year old diabetic David Rushing lost his job. He used to pay $200 per month for his Blue Cross and Blue Shield health care plan through his employer. But after getting laid off, he had to pay $400 per month to keep the coverage through COBRA program which unfortunately expires in 18months.

Vietnam and the Philippines are the only 2 Asian countries who made it to the list because of their strong foothold as an emerging offshore outsourcing destination. Thailand is also an emerging offshore destination but is still far behind the Philippines and Vietnam. The study gauged the non-BRIC countries’ offshore outsourcing attractiveness using the following indicators: availability of skills, cost attractiveness, IT/BPO environment, quality of infrastructure, risk profile and market potential. Out of the 6 indicators, the Philippines managed to capture a spot in 4 indicators except for cost attractiveness and risk profile. “In 2008, the Philippines recorded $4.1 billion ITO/BPO in exports. Whether for captive or outsourcing services, the Philippines offers cost competitiveness, as well as an educated workforce and English proficiency–all of which has played well into the US market though it does need to improve its service maturity and IT skills levels. The Philippines has yet to move into other markets and is threatened by emerging lower-cost destinations, not so much in voice-based customer support, as in other types of BPO,” says the LSE Outsourcing Unit report.