During the 1990s and early 2000s, outsourcing made a lot of waves as companies found ways to engage third parties to handle information technology work and farm many jobs out to less expensive labor markets. For many, that meant the elimination of a job and a negative association with the concept.

While outsourcing and business process change can still frequently translate into layoffs, the process has evolved, according to recent Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough hires Edward Hansen and Valerie Gross, and can also mean making existing workers more efficient—and, they say, happier.