Final answer:
Outsourcing primarily creates new HR challenges by requiring human resource professionals to manage third-party relationships and ensure quality standards, while also potentially reducing some traditional HR responsibilities. It does not eradicate HR roles but transforms them, in turn necessitating adaptability and strategic thinking from HR professionals.
Step-by-step explanation:
Outsourcing affects the role of human resource professionals in several ways, primarily by creating new HR challenges (option c). As companies outsource more functions, HR professionals face the task of managing relationships with external firms and ensuring that outsourced personnel meet the company's standards. However, outsourcing can also reduce HR responsibilities (option b) since some tasks traditionally managed by HR, such as recruiting and training, might be handled by the third-party service providers. In some cases, it may enhance HR functions (option a) by allowing HR professionals to focus on strategic endeavors rather than administrative tasks. The claim that outsourcing eliminates HR roles (option d) is overly simplistic, as HR still plays a crucial role in managing the workforce, whether in-house or outsourced.
In terms of broader impacts, research has indicated that larger organizations that professionalize HR functions can reduce bias in recruitment processes, such as discrimination against minority groups. Additionally, outsourcing has diminished high-paying blue-collar jobs in developed nations and led to the shift of certain job categories, like customer service, to other countries. This has resulted in a change in demand for workers, affecting employment in various sectors. Therefore, instead of eliminating HR roles, outsourcing has transformed them, necessitating adaptability and strategic thinking from HR professionals.