Yet a sunset industry

By Fil C. Sionil, Manila Bulletin, Nov 30, 2017

At one ASEAN Summit, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi admitted the Philippines had “overtaken” India with the largest number of voice-based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services in the world. Since then, the BPO industry has served as an economic lifeline for the Philippines, employing over 1.5 million people. The industry is also one of the top two earners of foreign exchange.

This was six years ago, in 2011. But with the multiple opportunities not to mention the dynamism in information technology (IT), the BPO industry is in now on the edge, specifically the Call Center with the recent introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

There’s also Knowledge Processing Outsourcing (KPO). Though both Call Centers and KPO are subsets of BPO, KPO is higher-valued work compared to Call Centers as it provides financial service analysis, research and information gathering, and even market research.

Not yet but the business model of call centers has to change, says JP Morgan Chase N.A. Manila branch Managing Director and Senior Country Officer Roberto “Bobbit” L. Panlilio when asked if the Call Center segment is already facing the sunset.

AI brings a new element to the BPO industry. AI is already being used in financial services. It is a force to reckon with. Thus, the bumper profit of call centers could be on a downward trend. “It is still healthy, but, it will not grow at the same rate,” opines Mr. Panlilio. JP Morgan has 15, 000 workforce. It operates its own BPO. Unlike others,” JP Morgan’s BPO is “captive” as it services solely the operations of the American banking giant. Other BPOs are classified as “vendors,” servicing the backroom operations of corporates offshore.

Mr. Panlilio expresses the view that one has to “accept the reality and the time to prepare is now” to maintain the viability of the industry. News report’s have it that AI will affect the operations of the BPO industry, particularly the Call Centers segment, in five years time.

Postscript:

The highly regarded Atty. Perry Pe merely smiled in response to the query if he was the one being referred to by Mr. John Gokongwei Jr. in his acceptance speech as this year’s MAP Management Man of the Year. Big John brought the house down when he poked fun at his sons-in-law – Berck Cheng, Jimmy Tang, Winston Lim, and Atty. Perry. While he acknowledged everyone in his management journey – from his suki who bought the candles and the threads he sold in a market in Cebu when he was 15 to make ends meet to JG Summit management/staff, brothers, his son Lance, and the wind beneath his wings wife Elizabeth, Big John considers that “the best sign of my management skills has been to manage my many sons-in- law, most of them businessmen working with their own family-run businesses, and one lawyer. Guess who is the most difficult to manage?”