Sourcing of business functions
From 2014 to 2016 approximately 2,300 enterprises sourced parts of their business functions within Germany or abroad. These were 3.5% of the roughly 67,000 enterprises with 50 employees and over in industry, trade and the service sector.The majority of the enterprises concerned (approximately 1,200) sourced parts of their business functions only within Germany. International sourcing was recorded for 850 enterprises. Just under 250 enterprises sourced business functions both within the country and abroad.
On the whole, support business functions were the functions sourced most frequently (in roughly 1,600 enterprises) in the reference period. A more detailed breakdown by domestic and international sourcing and by main economic activity shows a more differentiated picture. As regards domestic sourcing, the functions moved were mainly support functions and the economic activities mainly concerned were the trade and service sector. In international sourcing, industry enterprises were more actively engaged, and the functions moved were mainly the enterprise’s core function.