According to a new survey by Hewitt Associates, 71% of mid- and large-sized employers say they will not consider changing their HR outsourcing needs in light of the economic downturn.

The survey involves more than 100 employers. In total, about 82% of companies that can measure the success of outsourcing have said they have seen, or are expected to see improvements, and at least 89% of respondents rated overall services as being effective or highly effective.

“HR outsourcing was on the rise before the economy slowed, but current economic conditions are creating a new demand for these services as companies look for ways to further reduce costs,” says Mike Wright, a leader in Hewitt’s HR outsourcing business. “Because HR outsourcing can provide companies with significant cost savings, new capabilities and improved services for employees, it will continue to be attractive to most businesses as the economy recovers,” he adds

Almost two-thirds of the respondents believe that outsourcing produced lower administrative costs. Cost savings ranked No. 1 on the list of employers’ reasons for outsourcing their HR functions.

Other key findings from the survey:

• About 95% of companies outsource at least one HR function or program, with the majority of companies outsourcing traditional benefit programs: defined contribution (89 %), defined benefit (72%) and health and welfare (61%).
• Other commonly outsourced HR functions include flexible spending accounts (94%), self-directed brokerage windows (78%) and dependent audit services (68%).
• Absence management (17%) and dependent audit administration (9%) top the list of HR-related services that companies plan to outsource in the near future.
• Other top reasons employers decide to outsource their HR services include, access to outside HR expertise (78%), service quality (74%) and the ability to realign resources and focus on core business (72%).
• Relief from regulatory and administrative burdens appears to be growing as a motivating reason for companies to consider outsourcing, with 70% of respondents citing this as a key reason to outsource, compared with just 46% who took a similar Hewitt survey in 2006.

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