Lucrative changes

FROM the time that the call center or business process outsourcing (BPO) industry emerged in the country, it has been considered as one of the biggest factors to the Philippine’s economic growth. Heralded as the country’s “Sunshine Industry,” BPO in the country continues to gain increasing revenues despite the prevailing unstable economic conditions worldwide.

According to the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) revenues from the call centers in the Philippines are expected to increase by 23 percent, about $6.15 billion before the year ends. This is because of the strong demand for cheaper labor services by foreign investors.

CCAP President Benedict C. Hernandez also said in an assembly last Sept. 27 that the BPO industry in the country is now ahead of India, and that the 23 percent growth this year will create a workforce of 344,000 agents.

Coming from his trip to the United States, President Aquino likewise said that there will indeed be more jobs in the coming years, especially in the BPO sector.

The $2.4 billion secured investment include companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Sutherland Global Services Inc., SPI Global Services Inc., Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, AES Corp., Century Properties, Headstrong Corp.

Although it was projected that there will be a lot of demands for jobs like a call center agent, customer service assistant, and technical support staff among others, Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), however, said in an interview that the problem also lies in the fact that not all applicants have enough skills for the available positions.

Baldoz said that there are still a lot of undergraduate students who pursue courses that have already declined in demand, like the nursing. She added that this has forced nursing graduates to land on a different profession.

Meanwhile, suggestions were raised by the different sectors, both private and public, on how to prevent incompetencies among applicants now and in the future.

To maintain the industry’s growth, however, more workers have to be trained for in-demand job positions, Teleperformance CEO Brent Welch said in the CCAP assembly. He also said that learning “foundational English at a younger age” will be able to help the youth in developing the skills they need in order to be competent in the labor industry.

In a report from a local newspaper, Maulik Parekh, CEO of SPI Global aired in the CCAP assembly that a reconsideration of giving incentives is essential to companies who just started to invest in the Philippines as countries like “Vietnam and Latin America are becoming competitive.”

Jojo J. Uligan, Executive Director of the CCAP agreed with Parekh that offering better incentives has so far been successful. Also, creating more attractive benefits and extending the companies’ terms would mean an increase of revenues for the country.

As requested by the Senate, DoLE created the National Skills Registry, an online database of job listings and qualifications that aims to give high school students an idea of what course to take in the future.

A constant growth in the economy indicates a strong, thriving and competent country. Growth, however, requires certain changes; and one way to face these changes is to show strength and resiliency, ironically, even in prospering times. (AJPress)

( www.asianjournal.com )