More BPO jobs mean better language skills

MANILA, Philippines – English proficiency in the country is seen to increase further as more Filipinos receive training geared towards employment in the business process outsourcing sector.

Moreover, the industry’s growth is also creating a halo effect as government agencies are ramping up training for potential BPO employees.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and some universities are working with BPO providers and IT companies to help improve English proficiency, along with other necessary skills required by companies in the IT industry.

Some examples of programs are the Advanced English Proficiency Program (ADEPT) developed by TESDA and the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), which aims to train tens of thousands of students.

Other similar employment training programs where tertiary schools are involved include the Service, Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) of IBM; Oracle Academy; Cisco Networking Academy, among others. These training programs all require English as a primary mode of teaching, which further helps students to improve their English speaking skills.

Senator Manuel Roxas III also stressed that need for students to improve their English proficiency, though he emphasized that learning English is better done if students are taught in their native language first.

“It makes for easier learning if they can understand complex concepts taught to them in their native tongue. They’ll feel more confident,” Roxas said during a recent contact center conference.

The Department of Education already begun a program that will have students taught in their native tongue.

ExcelAsia President Rita Trillo-Ugarte said in an interview that the presence of BPO and contact centers in the Philippines is a factor for improvements among Filipinos English proficiency. But she also attributes this to the population’s perception that English is a factor for success.

Ugarte said English training should continuously be done early on and must involve both private sector and government agencies to sustain it.

The BPO industry alone needs at least another 110,000 in the coming months. TESDA is targeting 13,500 graduates for the BPO sector. Ugarte said ExcelAsia is also churning out 1,500 trainees monthly to help sustain the industry’s needs.

She noted that ExcelAsia’s hiring rate for its trainees is around 80 percent, which proves how fast Filipinos can learn the language in such short periods.

Call centers alone hire the largest number of workers with around 275,000 employees. Overall, the BPO industry has at least 400,000 workers.

“We are also focusing on soft skills of communication, customer service, and professionalism. These are qualities that make us stand out from the rest of the world in terms of providing world-class BPO services,” Ugarte said. –Alexander Villafania, INQUIRER.net