Outsourcing to India: the pros, cons and problems to plan for
Outsourcing to India gives you a large skilled workforce, lower costs, and working hours that overlap with Europe's mornings and run overnight for the US. The problems to plan for are staff turnover, English that varies from person to person, public holidays, and data protection. Each has a known fix, set out below with sources.
Pros and cons at a glance
Most pages on this topic are written by companies that sell outsourcing, so the downsides get a line each. We sell it too, and the problems deserve more than a line. Here they are with numbers.
| Factor | The upside | The problem to plan for | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Pay is a fraction of US or UK wages | The cheapest bid often skips checking | Compare what the price includes, not just the rate |
| Talent | A tech and services workforce of about 6 million | Quality varies a lot between providers | Run a paid trial on your own task |
| English | English is widely used at work | Skill varies from person to person | Test written English on a sample of your task |
| Time zones | Your morning overlaps in Europe; overnight work for the US | Little or no live overlap with the US | Plan batches and handovers, not live chat |
| Staff turnover | TCS reports yearly attrition of 13.6% | People leave, and knowledge leaves with them | Hire a team, and keep the brief written down |
| Holidays | Plenty of working days in the year | Holidays differ by state and festival season | Share a holiday calendar at the start |
| Data protection | India's data law exempts most foreign client data | Your own law, such as GDPR, still applies in full | Sign a processor agreement and transfer clauses |
Is your plan ready for the problems?
Tick what you already have in place
Not ready yet
Start with the brief and a small trial. Those two catch most problems early.
How to read this
- Not ready yet: Start with the brief and a small trial. Those two catch most problems early.
- Nearly there: Close the gaps below before you sign anything long-term.
- Ready to start: Run the trial, measure it, and scale only when the numbers hold.
The upside: scale, skills and cost
India's technology and services industry is large. Its industry body, NASSCOM, estimates revenue of about $315 billion for the 2026 financial year, exports of over $246 billion, and a workforce of about 6 million. Those are industry estimates, but the scale is not in doubt.
Cost is the other reason. US administrative assistants earn a median of $23.23 an hour (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025), and a managed team in India costs a fraction of that. Our cost comparison guide sets out the figures and what they measure.
Problem: staff turnover
People change jobs. TCS reported attrition of 13.6% over the twelve months to June 2026 in its IT services business. Figures for smaller firms and back-office work are not published in the same way and may be higher.
- Work with a team, not one person, so absence or a resignation doesn't stop the work.
- Keep the brief, examples and edge cases written down, so a new person can pick up where the last one stopped. Our guide on how to brief a remote team shows how.
- Ask how the provider pays its people, and whether on time. The answer tells you how it treats the team doing your work.
Problem: English varies from person to person
English is widely used in Indian business, but skill varies a great deal. On EF's English Proficiency Index 2025, a private index based on people who chose to take its test, India scored 484 and ranked 74th of 123 countries, in the "low" band. A national average says little about the person doing your work.
Test the person, not the country: ask for a short sample of your real task, written in the style you need. For written support or review work, clear, simple English matters more than a polished accent.
Problem: holidays and festival seasons
India has three national holidays (26 January, 15 August and 2 October). For 2026, central government offices in Delhi list 17 gazetted holidays in total, and states add their own. Private companies set their own lists, and festival seasons such as Diwali are busy family times.
Ask for the provider's holiday calendar at the start of each year, and plan deadlines around it, the same way you would with a team in another European country.
Problem: data protection, on both sides
India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 now has rules: the DPDP Rules 2025 were notified on 13 November 2025, with most duties phased in by May 2027. Section 17(1)(d) exempts most processing of data about people outside India, done in India under a contract with a foreign client.
That exemption doesn't lower your duties. If you are in the UK or EU, your GDPR obligations stay in full: a processor agreement, transfer clauses for a country without an adequacy decision, and sharing only the data the task needs. Our cost and GDPR guide lists the documents to ask for.
If you are a regulated firm, such as a bank, sector rules also apply. The European Banking Authority's outsourcing guidelines, for example, require a risk assessment, a register of outsourcing arrangements, exit plans and audit rights.
So, is outsourcing to India worth it?
For repeatable, written, checkable work, it usually is: the cost difference is large, and the problems above each have a known fix. For live, judgement-heavy or one-off work, it often isn't. Our guide on what to hand off first has a one-minute score for any task.
If you want to test it, send us a brief. After a free 20-minute call you get a clear price for a small trial batch, our team checks every piece before it reaches you, and you judge the quality before anything bigger.
Questions
What are the main advantages of outsourcing to India?
A large skilled workforce, much lower costs than US or UK hiring, and working hours that overlap with European mornings or run overnight for US teams.
What are the disadvantages of outsourcing to India?
Staff turnover, English skills that vary between people, holidays that differ by state, and extra work on data protection. Each can be planned for with a written brief, a team rather than one person, a holiday calendar and the right contracts.
Is my data safe with an Indian outsourcing provider?
It depends on the provider's controls and your contracts. India's DPDP Act exempts most foreign client data processed under contract, so your own law, such as GDPR, sets the rules. Share only what the task needs.
Is outsourcing to India still cheaper?
Yes, by a wide margin for most roles, but the cheapest bid is rarely the best value. Compare what the price includes, such as quality checks and cover for absence.
How do I start outsourcing to India safely?
Pick one repeatable task, write a brief with examples, agree a quality measure, and run a small paid trial before any long contract.
Sources
- Technology sector in India: Strategic Review 2026 NASSCOM (February 2026)
- Secretaries and administrative assistants: pay (May 2025) US Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Q1 2026-27 fact sheet (attrition) Tata Consultancy Services (9 July 2026)
- EF English Proficiency Index 2025: India EF Education First (private index)
- List of holidays 2026 for central government offices Department of Personnel and Training order, via StaffNews (July 2025)
- DPDP Rules 2025 notified Press Information Bureau, MeitY (13 November 2025)
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, Section 17 (exemptions) Indian Kanoon (text of the Act)
- Guidelines on outsourcing arrangements (EBA/GL/2019/02) European Banking Authority, copy hosted by the Bank of England