Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Last week, I zeroed in on specific market activity within the payroll, learning and RPO service lines. Today, I am taking a closer look at H1 2013 activity in benefits administration and MPHRO and considering what we should expect in H2 2013 based on NelsonHall’s recent HRO Confidence Index.

Benefits Administration

Contract signings aside, there has been a plethora of activity within benefits administration in H1 2013, including:

• New offerings:
  • Mercer launching a private benefits exchange
  • Buck Consultants launching an AE offering in the U.K.
  • Secova launching a Coordination of Benefits (COB) audit offering
• Acquisitions: Wageworks acquiring Crosby Benefit Systems and Benefit Concepts to strengthen its H&W admin offering
• Partnerships:
  • Fidelity partnering with Extend Health for retiree healthcare services
  • JLT Employee Benefits partnering with Vielife for health and wellbeing services in the U.K.
• New technologies:
  • Xerox launching an account-based benefits portal, BenefitWallet, to assist with managing multiple health accounts on one platform
  • Aon Hewitt launching an absence management tool
• Educational resources:
  • Mercer and ADP both launching websites to provide information on healthcare reform
  • Ceridian launching an AE knowledge center in the U.K.

MPHRO

Though MPHRO market has been relatively quiet for some years, it is very much alive with new wins for IBM and ADP  and contract renewals at all the major vendors.

Many vendors have looking at geographic expansion, for example Aon Hewitt with its acquisition of OmniPoint Workday Services.  NelsonHall expects ADP to start making inroads in LATAM with its MPHRO services since it added RPO capabilities in this region from its acquisition of The RightThing and now expands its payroll footprint from the Payroll S.A. acquisition.

H2 2013

So what does the rest of the year have in store? NelsonHall’s latest HRO Confidence Index survey finds that overall expectations for HRO revenue growth remain at the same level as those reported for the last five quarters; with payroll leading followed by RPO. Top industry sectors for HRO services include healthcare, pharmaceuticals and high-tech. By geography, vendors are reporting increased confidence for revenue growth in Central and Eastern Europe and Central and Latin America.

Interested in reading the latest HRO news from NelsonHall? Subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.