Abstract
Development and improvement of single-industry towns remain a burning issue not only because of the entrepreneurship and business development on the respective territories but mostly because of the need to improve the quality of life and prevent outflow of working population. Other acute problems involve the advanced development of problem areas, as well as the use of modern tools to disclose the potential for socio-economic development of single-industry towns. Outsourcing can be considered such a tool, if improved. The existing practice and experience of using outsourcing for diversification of single-industry economy and development of small and medium-sized businesses show the dependence of outsourcers on the economic situation of city-forming enterprises. The paper features an analysis of the world experience in outsourcing approach for single-industry cities. It is proposed to use outsourcing as a problem solving tool for single-industry towns. Together with large companies, cityforming enterprises and service industries, outsourcing can play an important role in solving social problems, in particular through "social outsourcing".
