China, Morocco and Hungary are the new locations of choice for offshore centres

China, Morocco and Hungary are the latest locations of choice for IT services suppliers looking for offshore outsourcing centres.

Of the 21 new facilities opened by the UK's 20 largest firms, four were set up in China, three in Eastern Europe and three in Morocco.

Outsourcers are now looking away from India – where only two centres were opened - because of the rising cost of the rupee and increasing staff wages.

"What we are seeing is vendors looking to reduce their reliability on India’s
heated labour market, while adding non-English language skills to support
clients in regions such as Central Europe," said Nick Mayes, senior consultant at Pierre Audoin Consultants.

BT Global Services, EDS, IBM and TCS have all opened sourcing facilities in China in the last 18 months due to lower costs and a growing market for IT outsourcing in the country.

Eastern Europe and Morocco are considered good locations for such centres because of high skill levels and low labour costs.