Global recruiter Adecco attempted to tackle the public outcry over outsourcing at a seminar held in collaboration with the London Business School last week.

The world’s largest staffing firm assembled a panel of business commentators including Saul Estrin, Adecco professor of business and society at the London Business School; Ajit Isaac, founder managing director of Adecco Peopleone India; and Jérôme Caille, chief executive of Adecco SA.

Professor Estrin stressed at the event the impact that offshoring had on both source and host economies.

He said: “Offshoring used to be concentrated in manufacturing, and largely entailed the shifting of less skilled aspects of the production chain to developing economies. However, in recent years, it has increasingly spread to the service sector and affected highly skilled jobs, for example in the software and business services industries.”

Employment experts estimate that outsourcing could cost 200,000 UK jobs in the next five years.

Alan Beresford, director of Omega Resource Group, a recruiter for the technical, engineering and industrial sectors, believes that outsourcing is becoming more popular but it will never be right for everybody. “It’s not always going to be a viable route for all companies as some may benefit from the cost-effective method of dealing with these issues in-house,” he said.

“As with so many aspects of recruitment and HR, a solution should be found which fits the client’s requirements, and therefore the idea of shoehorning clients into outsourcing without regard to specific need is impractical.”

Virgin has further fuelled the outsourcing debate by shifting its call centre rail bookings service, the Trainline, in which it has an 80% stake, from Scotland to India, putting more than 300 jobs at risk.