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The Future of BPO Operators in the Philippines
Is there still hope for the future for Filipinos aspiring to become BPO operators and US companies intending to avail of BPO services in the Philippines? Nowadays, various economically challenged nations are more and more turning towards the BPO industry as the last saving grace for their badly suffering economies. The Philippines is one of such nations, and it’s why all sectors in the Philippines are working together just to make their country the best choice for satisfying BPO needs.
What You Can Get from BPO Operators in the Philippines at Present
BPO operators in the Philippines can offer foreign clients the chance to continue providing excellent customer satisfaction at a fraction of the cost because of the positive traits that Filipino workers and the Philippine society in general possess.
Lower Wages – Salaries and wages represent a large portion of the operational expenses of many companies in the United States. Due to heavy operational costs, income or profit is of course drastically reduced. Since the global economy, however, doesn’t show any signs of turning for the better in the next few years, US companies are beginning to outsource as much services as they can to nations where salaries and wages are definitely lower compared to the rates in United States.
This is exactly the case in the Philippines. Firstly, the minimum wage law allows laborers to be employed for as low as six to seven dollars a day for a typical eight-hour job. Overtime costs are also significantly lower than what’s legally required in the United States.
Furthermore, the Philippine government has pretty simple requirements when it comes to job-related benefits and incentives such as medical insurance and monthly dues to the Social Security System. Compare this to the insurance coverage provided for American employees and US companies will certainly enjoy larger profit margins when they hand over their services to BPO operators in the Philippines.
Educated and Skilled Workforce – BPO operators in the Philippines – BPO operators in the Philippines don’t have a hard time acquiring sufficient human resources for their offices. As the number of jobseekers far outweighs the job opportunities in the market, BPO operators in the Philippines can certainly provide the necessary manpower for their clients’ outsourcing needs in a short amount of time.
Majority of the job market is characterized by Filipinos armed with college degrees and basic skills that will enable them to competently handle any job that don’t require specialization such as front desk duties and administrative responsibilities.
Proficiency in English is also arguably the strongest competitive advantage that Filipino workers have against their foreign counterparts. Filipinos, especially those born in Manila and nearby regions, are born with minimal accent when speaking English. Those who do have slight difficulties in repressing their accents when speaking in English are able to overcome their problems after a short period of training only.
Variety of Services – BPO operators in India generally focus on providing services in the I.T. and medicine industries and other sectors which outsource their customer support functions. Although BPO operators in the Philippines also offer competent solutions in the same fields, those are not the only industries that they’re providing service for.
Besides the aforementioned industries, BPO operators in the Philippines can also offer services in terms of legal transcription, accountancy, and artistic needs such as arts, design, and advertisement.
A Glimpse of the BPO Industry in the Philippines
According to Ernesto Herrera, a former senator and the present general secretary of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the country stands to get as much as 450,000 call center jobs in the coming five years due to the increasing demand on US companies to lower their business costs and increase their profit margin.
In 2005, a trade mission made up of eleven of the top BPO operators in the Philippines and sent to Europe to promote the country as an attractive location for BPO services. Included in the delegation were the Business Process Association of the Philippines, the head organization of BPO operators, Alliance, SPI Technologies, and Vision X. If other trade missions similar to this can be set up and accomplished, it would be not impossible for Philippines to make Herrera’s forecasts turn into reality.
Christopher Beshouri, head honcho of McKinsey Philippines, however, states that the success of BPO operators in the Philippines is conditional on the ability of the government to come up with a clear and effective program to further improve the language and management skills of its workforce and expand its BPO focus to non-voice services.
