Dec

29

The Philippines may have overtaken India as the leading destination for business process outsourcing (BPO), but the challenges facing the industry are the same as when it started growing eight years ago.

Talent and cost are still prime considerations for companies to work with BPO providers.

The Philippines is very strong in terms of both factors, the country has “a rich pool” of highly-educated and highly-qualified university graduates. There is enough talent to supply the growing demands of the industry, the cost of BPO operations and services in the country will remain cheap.

There is optimism that it will remain that way, as the Department of Trade support the maintainance of government incentives afforded to BPOs.

As long as these government incentives stay in place, the country will remain a good destination for BPO.

One deterrent for business coming to Philippines’ BPO is that the country having too many public holidays. The country has 21 public holidays. This should be remedied because it hits the costs and attractiveness of doing business in the country.

As for power supply, there was no episode in the BPO industry’s history that showed they were affected by power problems in the country however the government and their agencies should do whatever they can to anticipate the growing industry’s energy requirements, particularly in BPO hotspots in the regions of the Philippines.

Outside of Manila, Cebu is the largest destination for BPOs in the country because most of the university graduates from other provinces can be found here.

Bad Image

Amid allegations that the Philippine BPO industry breeds cybersex dens, several organizations such as the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) have decided to step up its information and education efforts next year.

The CICT announced cybersex operations were not and would never be part of the BPO universe and so should not be linked to the industry in any way.

The BPAP likewise condemned such operations, saying the group’s members took offense that the industry was being linked to illegal acts.

In a statement to the press, CCAP reps said that even implying that cybersex dens are part of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry was “borderline malicious.”

BPO organizations have worked hard to convince graduates to consider a career in the industry and to prove to their family that this is a professional industry. With these malicious allegations, people may become suspicious.

To counter these negative impressions, the CCAP group would be more proactive in its information and education campaigns, and would regularly come out with good news about the industry instead of just reacting to the things that come out in the news.

The CCAP will make a positive employee environment as the BPO business is one of the rare bright spots in the country. BPO is all out against (cybersex) activities that exploit Filipinos.

The CCAP was ready to partner with the National Bureau of Investigation to help catch these cybersex-den operators by providing the necessary technologies to aid in the detection of such operations.

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References:

  1. Aznar, Mia. “Challenges confronting BPOs still the same: talent and cost.” 22 December 2010. Sun Star Cebu. Accessed 22 December 2010. Link Here.
  2. Ho, Abigail. “Call centers out to boost public image.” 21 December 2010. The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Accessed 23 December 2010. Link Here.

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