Lack of qualified applicants hounds KPO sector

THE local business process out-sourcing (BPO) industry sees bright prospects and more jobs in the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) sector, but the lack of qualified workers in the country remains a problem, according to an industry-commissioned survey.

In a survey conducted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and Outsource2Philippines (O2P) from August 6 to 24, about 13 percent of respondents from companies that provide KPO services said their prospects this year are excellent. Another 44 percent said prospects are very good, while 37 percent the outlook is good.

Six out of every 10 respondents said their respective firms will jack up their KPO workforce by between 11 percent and 200 percent this year, while 29 percent will hire more by 5 percent to 10 percent.

However, the tight labor market remains the leading setback of the Philippine KPO sector, according to 53 percent of the respondents. Majority of BPO firms in the country said they could only hire about 10 percent or less of applicants on average.

The difficulty to keep knowledge workers—who mostly go abroad for higher-paying jobs—in the country also hinder KPO growth, 45 percent of respondents said. The complex training requirements here is another major barrier, said 33 percent.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said North America remains the biggest market for KPO, as most of their clients come from that continent. Asia is also a big source of accounts, according to 46 percent of respondents, while 37 percent said Europe was likewise a key market.

This survey polled 131 BPO executives, of which 60 percent said their respective companies provide KPO services. Forty-seven percent of these respondents said between 50 percent and 100 percent of the services they provide are considered KPO.

The survey defined KPO as “an extension of BPO involving greater business complexity and focusing on knowledge-intense business processes that require significant domain expertise. Knowledge workers delivering these services are highly educated and trained, and trusted to make important decisions on behalf of their clients.”

Among the KPO services provided by the respondents’ companies include advertising, animation, back office KPO such as procurement and supply chain management, business intelligence and financial KPO, legal KPO, and Web 2.0 services. –Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Manila Times