…marks 30th anniversary

By Providence Ayanfeoluwa

ICS Outsourcing Nigeria Limited, a human resource and business support solutions provider, yesterday, proposed the institutionalization of outsourcing practice in Nigeria.

Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of ICS Outsourcing, Dr Peter Akindeju, made the proposition at a media briefing in Lagos, as part of activities lined up to celebrate the firm’s 30th anniversary.

He decried the knowledge deficit of the critical role the outsourcing sector plays in the economy. Akindeju said: “If you look at other economies of the world, India at some point used outsourcing to pivot their country’s economy from a third world country to 2nd or even first now. There are lessons to be learned from that, about what Nigeria can do by deliberately institutionalising the outsourcing practice. Outsourcing is embedded in every sector of the economy; there is hardly any endeavour you can mention in the world that outsourcing is not involved.”

Akindeju who said there is a dichotomy between what the schools are teaching and what the market is demanding, disclosed that part of the celebration is a market readiness training for fresh graduates and corps members to address the gap between the curriculum schools are using and what the market is requesting in terms of skills.

He said: “Until we revamp our curriculum to reflect what is happening in the world today, there will always be a gap. When children of school age of other countries are already playing with robotics, applications, and AI, among others, there would definitely be a gap”.

He disclosed further efforts geared at incorporating and floating a “Foundation” envisioned to start giving scholarships to indigent students within the country before the year’s end.

His words: “We have created jobs for Nigerians and made a positive impact on the communities we serve. The company has employed over 70,000 Nigerians cumulatively from inception till date, and still counting. We also directly contribute to the economy of each state of the federation by paying PAYE directly to each state and the FCT.

“At ICS outsourcing, we offer services such as payroll management; staffing; learning and development; sales and IT outsourcing, fleet management, and background verifications. Our varied but tailored solutions have supported businesses of all sizes from ambitious startups to major corporations, helping them gain efficiencies by not only reducing cost but making cost more predictable, mitigating risk, and enhancing employees’ satisfaction.

“People have mistaken employment casualisation for outsourcing, it is ignorance; outsourcing is a noble practice. For instance, all our employees with our clients have pensions, they pay tax and they all have leave and leave allowance, they enjoy health management benefits. Everything a core staff of any organization should benefit is applicable to them. In outsourcing, they are treated as full-time employee of the organization”

Earlier, former Managing Director/Chief Executive of ICS Outsourcing, Mr. Femi Olaide, said that the firm was incorporated in August 1994, to provide business support solutions. “Our services include Business Advisory, People Outsourcing, Recruitment Outsourcing, Learning and Development and Sales Outsourcing.”