body shopping: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C1Business, Journalistic, Technical (IT/HR)
Quick answer
What does “body shopping” mean?
The practice of recruiting skilled workers, especially in IT, from one country to work temporarily in another, often with lower pay than local workers.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
The practice of recruiting skilled workers, especially in IT, from one country to work temporarily in another, often with lower pay than local workers.
A recruitment and contracting business model where a firm supplies contract workers, typically in technical fields, on a temporary basis to client companies, often in a different country. It can also refer to the practice of examining cadavers in medical schools or the illegal trafficking of human body parts, but these are specialist or dated senses.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
The term is understood and used in both varieties, but the phenomenon is more frequently discussed in the context of the US tech industry sourcing talent from countries like India. The UK context might involve sourcing from Eastern Europe or within the EU.
Connotations
Often carries a negative connotation, suggesting exploitation of labour market disparities and precarious employment, but can be neutral in formal business discourse as a description of a staffing model.
Frequency
Low frequency in general discourse but established in business, economics, and technology journalism.
Grammar
How to Use “body shopping” in a Sentence
[Company/Country X] engages in body shopping from [Country Y]The [Industry] relies on body shopping for [Skill]Criticism of body shopping practicesA body shopping firmVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “body shopping” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The consultancy was accused of bodyshopping (less common verb form) developers from abroad.
- Some firms actively bodyshop for niche engineering skills.
American English
- The tech giant has been bodyshopping talent from overseas for its new project.
- They bodyshop most of their QA testers.
adverb
British English
- The team was recruited body-shopping style. (rare, phrasal)
- They operate almost exclusively body-shopping. (rare)
American English
- They recruited him body-shopping from India. (rare, phrasal)
- The firm works predominantly via body shopping. (noun used adverbially)
adjective
British English
- He works for a body-shopping agency. (hyphenated attributive use)
- The body-shopping model is under scrutiny.
American English
- She took a bodyshopping contract. (solid attributive use)
- A common bodyshopping arrangement.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Describes a specific global HR supply chain model for temporary technical workers.
Academic
Used in economics, sociology, and management studies discussing labour migration and globalisation.
Everyday
Very rare. Might be encountered in news articles about immigration or tech industry practices.
Technical
Standard term in IT/HR sectors for a specific type of temporary, cross-border contractor supply.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “body shopping”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “body shopping”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “body shopping”
- Using it as a verb (e.g., 'They body shop' is informal/rare; the standard noun is 'body shopping').
- Confusing it with 'bodyshop' (car repair) or 'body shopping' in a literal sense (shopping for items related to the human body).
- Using it in non-professional contexts where 'temporary recruitment' would be clearer.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Not inherently. It is a legitimate business model for contract staffing. However, it can be associated with illegal practices if it violates immigration or labour laws, such as visa fraud or underpayment.
Body shopping typically involves supplying individual contract workers to work on the client's premises or systems. Outsourcing usually involves contracting an entire process or service to an external company that handles it offsite with its own employees.
Yes, historically it referred to the practice in medical schools where students would examine cadavers ('shop for a body'). It can also rarely refer to trafficking in human organs. However, the business/IT sense is now overwhelmingly dominant.
It can be perceived as dehumanising because it metaphorically treats workers as commodities ('bodies'). In professional contexts, more neutral terms like 'contract staffing' or 'global contingent workforce solutions' are often preferred.
The practice of recruiting skilled workers, especially in IT, from one country to work temporarily in another, often with lower pay than local workers.
Body shopping is usually business, journalistic, technical (it/hr) in register.
Body shopping: in British English it is pronounced /ˈbɒdi ˌʃɒpɪŋ/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˈbɑːdi ˌʃɑːpɪŋ/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[They are] in the body shopping business”
- “a body shop (derived, referring to the firm doing the practice)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a company 'shopping for bodies' (workers) in a foreign market, selecting them and sending them to a job site, much like buying parts.
Conceptual Metaphor
LABOUR IS A COMMODITY / WORKERS ARE PARTS (to be sourced and assembled).
Practice
Quiz
What is the primary connotation of 'body shopping' in business journalism?