The last few years, companies have seen “tremendous growth” in selective outsourcing of their Human Resources technology and functions, says global consulting firm Watson Wyatt.

The HR function most likely to be outsourced now is in defined contribution retirement administration (75 percent of surveyed companies currently do so), followed by health and welfare programs (52 percent), and pension administration (50 percent). Only 9 percent of companies outsource recruiting, and 4 percent outsource performance management.