International HR (Human Resource) firm Hewitt Associates recently surveyed some 100 larage companies here in the US. These companies represented about 2 million employees between them, so we're not talking a lot of Mom & Pop Shops.
What they found is that HR executives are increasingly concerned about attracting, retaining, and growing new talent. Toward that end, it's becoming readily apparent that we're in for a period of sustained outsourcing of HR functions: