Good, bad news in BPO honor roll

THREE cities in Metro Manila that were recently inundated were considered dropouts from the list of top 50 emerging global outsourcing cities by research firm Tholons Inc.

But there’s some good news: Cebu City was tagged as the top emerging city among 50 emerging outsourcing cities worldwide. Cebu City also bested five other cities in Southeast Asia, including Singapore.

Makati City, on the other hand, is among those in the top cities preferred for human-resource functions.

Released last week, Tholons’s report cited the cities of Mandaluyong, Pasig and Quezon City as among those removed from the list.

The removal of the cities, which were hit hard  after storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng ran through the metropolis, “is a sign of the tested industry during the global economic crisis,” the report noted.

However, the report apparently sought to tone down the implications of the dropping of these cities from the list by saying these are still “clustered this year with Manila NCR—which remains one of the top 8 destinations.”

Out of the three, only Mandaluyong ranked near bottom at 45 in last year’s ranking by Tholons. Pasig City was still higher at 15 while Quezon City was ranked near the middle at 21.

Pasig was kicked out of its place by Kolkata, India, which also dropped nine rungs from last year’s ranking of 6.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pushed out Quezon City after climbing six rungs from 27 last year. And Halifax, Canada, replaced Mandaluyong City on the 45th rung after scaling up from 48 last year, the Tholons’s list of emerging BPO cities revealed.

The Philippines still trails India as the top offshore nation in the world. The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) credits this ranking to the National Capital Region (NCR) and the development of the outsourcing sector here over time.

According to a BPA/P official cited in the report, the NCR, comprised of 16 cities, is now competing with Cebu City.

The official was quoted as saying the NCR now posts rising attrition rates vis-à-vis a tapering supply of highly skilled workers.

While BPAP president Oscar  Sañez said there are over 600 BPO companies, he didn’t say how many of these are in the NCR and how may are in Cebu. But the report admitted that since majority of these firms are in the NCR, the metropolis is becoming congested.

“Almost 70 percent of the total number of BPO employees in the country work in Manila; and therefore, it’s started getting saturated,” the report said.

BPAP industry affairs executive director Jonathan Defensor de Luzuriaga was quoted as saying that he sees 22 percent to 23-percent growth in Manila’s outsourcing services by next year.

Of a total 14 functions, Manila NCR is among the top established global outsourcing cities for English-based contact-center, finance and accounting, and legal services. –Dennis D. Estopace / Reporter, Businessmirror