The attention that such measures, successful or not, draw could put pressure on offshore companies to increase their onshore capabilities, Bendor-Samuel says. But they hardly need more impetus to do that (see prediction #7 above). Concerns about a tax on specifically could be an incentive to reduce call volumes through the use of more self-service and automation tools, says Compass's Mathers. But they hardly need more incentive to take more labor costs out of the outsourcing equation (see prediction #TK below).

10. Providers Embrace Mass Automation...

"It continues to become harder to turn a good profit as a third party service provider," notes EquaTerra's Lepeak. Pressure to keep costs down and rive performance up, outsourcers will rely more heavily on automation, says Rutchik of Pace Harmon, from optical character recognition to whole lights-out, employee-free delivery centers.

Providers will increasingly be slinging such automation tools as well. "Applications that reduce the labor a client is required to perform the services will be offered at lower implementation and running costs than they have in the past," says EquaTerra's Brown. "This will continue to create demand for additional opportunities and reduce the staff necessary to support critical business applications."

11. ...And Mass (Offshore) Migration