The last six months of 2008 was one of the weakest half-years on record in terms of the value of outsourcing contracts awarded in the EMEA region as businesses paused for thought.

According to sourcing consultancy TPI, a total of ?31.3bnworth of business was signed in the last six months of 2008, which was a 20% drop in value compared to the first six months.

TPI said, “it resembled the first half of 2001, the year that saw the last global recession.”

This is the result of shorter contracts, which suggests corporations are focused on near-term concerns related to their day-to-day business, to counter the impact of the recession.

Duncan Aitchison, president at TPI EMEA, said this was a pause rather than a stop.”While the causes, severity and cures of the current and previous recessions differ, we do note similarities in the global outsourcing metrics between 2001 and 2008. While the outsourcing market is now larger and a lot more mature, we interpret both of these recession-related low points as representing a ‘pause’ in strategic decision-making about outsourcing.”

He thinks the fundamental business case for outsourcing remains solid.