TO CUT costs and tackle a manpower shortage, Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly outsourcing back-end business functions – or entire departments – such as IT support and payroll processing, service providers said.

“The local labour market is very tight, and SMEs are struggling to find the right staff, so they look to outsourcing,” said Chester Leong, managing director of accounting and tax services provider BoardRoom Group.

“At the same time, because the cost of doing business – such as rental and interest rates – has also gone up, SMEs have no choice but to look at places to save money,” he added.