RP is ideal location for contact centers – paper

The Philippines has emerged as an ideal location for setting up contact centers servicing major global firms from the United States, Europe, Australia and Singapore, according to a recent special paper by Jones Lang La Salle.

It is currently home to 28 contact centers and this figure is expected to increase in the future as existing players are prompted to further expand their operations in the country and new players come on board.

Some of the key factors that have led to the emergence of the Philippines as a competitive destination are rooted in the basic requirements of the outsourcing business which on a global basis, thrives on cost optimization and value addition, areas where the Philippines ranks extremely highly.

These factors include:

• A highly educated populace (94.6 percent literacy rate)

• A skilled labor force (20 percent of annual graduates are from IT/Computer Science related disciplines)

• A competitive operating costs structure (25 percent-40 percent estimated savings)

• A reliable infrastructure (availability of route and vendor redundancy)

Jeremy Smith, Country Head for the Philippines for Jones Lang La Salle says, "The trend of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which includes outsourcing customer service as in a contact center, has gained widespread acceptance worldwide. Central to the philosophy of BPO is that non-core, yet critical and resource-consuming processes can be outsourced to a central office, which can manage these processes in a competent and cost effedctive manner and this is where the Philippines has its advantages. The country has enjoyed a stable economy and with the current leadership established, this trend looks set to continue. Its large, educated workforce provides potential investors with a wealth of talent that when harnessed, can provide exceptional value from a cost and productivity perspective."

"In addition, the Philippines possesses all the essential qualities that make it an attractive location for setting up contact center services such as fairly skilled and fluent English-speaking workforce, good quality telecom infrastructure and a competitive wage structure of contact center personnel," adds.

The overall sentiment of doing business in the Philippines continues to improve and this will lead to continued development of infrastructure, which in turn will result in an increased number of locations becoming available for contact center locators. This will then enable larger segments of the English speaking, highly literate populator to be tapped as potential employees.

The outlook for the contact center industry remains bright. Its projected revenue is expected to grow from $173 million in 2002 to $42 billion by 2010 while the number of Customer Service Representatives is likely to grow from the current 10,000 to 150,000 by the end of the decade.