Human Resource Outsourcing and Skill Variety of Outsourced and Core Staff: Evidence from the Nigerian Banking Industry

In Nigerian banking industry, Human Resource outsourcing has grown beyond the externalisation of auxiliary activities to include core activities. The consequences of this practice on employee skill variety are rarely discussed in the industry. This study therefore, investigated the skill variety of outsourced and core staff in Nigerian banking industry with evidence from Bank X, Southeastern region. Survey research design was adopted. Bank X was purposively selected due to its reputation for employing outsourced staff in its core banking operations while its branches in Abia, Imo and Enugu States were randomly selected. All 352 workers in the three States comprising 218 outsourced and 134 core staff were enumerated. Mixed methods were used to collect data while descriptive statistics and Chi square at p<0.05 alpha level of significance were used to analyse data. Outsourced staff had less variety in their tasks compared to the core staff. They had less opportunities to acquire additional skills and were required to utilise fewer skills in the course of their work, leading to low skill variety. Their employment status by implication deprived them of human capital investment either privately or corporately. Mode of employment was significantly associated with skill variety.