Insourcing jobs agenda: Will Trump go for it?

Again, we have become living witnesses of how the candidates and the American people conduct themselves in a decision making process as significant as an election.  Notably, during the campaign, they have become very much like us. 

Veering away from their usual tact (though still are dealing with relevant issues), presidential candidates had largely engaged in “swiftboating”. 

However, what remained impressive was the magnanimity and humility of the protagonists in acknowledging the fresh mandate and in conceding defeat.

Like any race, however, the day after, the euphoria shall mellow down and despair shall melt away.  Emotion, fleeting as it has always been, shall subside and disappear. 

In us, what certainly shall stay and sadly will have long and negative impact on our lives is the possibility that President Donald Trump will put more teeth into his call, during his campaign, to bring back jobs to the United States of America.  If he should make true his promise, then the American-owned BPOs’ stay in the country will be a big issue.

If there is a little consolation, such idea of bringing back outsourced jobs to the USA was also President Obama’s campaign promise in his reelection bid in the 2012 Presidential Election.  Though he won, notably, there was nothing worrying at all that happened in his last term. 

To recall, early in 2012, he enjoined American businessmen to invest in America at the White House "Insourcing American Jobs" Forum.  Then, the forum focused on “the increasing trend of insourcing – where companies are bringing jobs back to the USA and making additional investments in America.”

Among others, the companies that had representations then were Ford of the Americas, DuPont, Otis Elevator Company, Intel, ThyssenKrupp, Rolls Royce, Master Lock, Lincolnton Furniture, GalaxE Solutions, AGS, KEEN and Chesapeake Bay Candle. These companies’ representatives made strong commitments to bring jobs back to the USA.

Looking at the aforementioned companies’ names, not anyone of us may chill. After all, these companies were manufacturers and do not have significant plants in the country that may have to shutdown. Curiously though, one of the attendees in such 2012 forum represents an industry that has been bringing in the needed dollars in the country, NOVO 1’s CEO Mary Murcott.  Scarily, in a startling revelation, Miss Murcott stressed that “many American companies that began using offshore call centers 10 or 15 years ago (14 or 15 years ago by now) are bringing those call centers and contact centers back home, but nobody seems to want to talk about it.”  

Though we might just brush aside her claims as a mere discourse or an act of patriotism, Miss Murcott maintained that American companies “can save 15 percent by bringing their contact centers back to America from India and the Philippines.”

Sadly, we can’t help but also agree with Miss Murcott that what is left for call centers now are the “hard calls”. The “easy calls” or those that are easy to resolve are efficiently handled by the company’s website or by phone via interactive voice response.  

As such, she is of the opinion that the Filipinos are not up to it (hard calls) because, for one, most of the agents are not familiar with the USA and its diverse culture. Moreover, the federal government and some states have been giving grants and incentives to those companies that will bring their operations back to the USA.

Though nothing negative was experienced in the last term of President Obama, this campaign promise by President Trump of insourcing jobs in the USA shouldn’t be taken lightly by our country’s government executives and industry leaders. Remember, from the looks of it, President Trump is more decisive than President Obama.  Therefore, he might just make true his promise of bringing outsourced jobs to the USA.

Hence, the key now is, first and foremost, try to look at the possibility of offering incentives to these business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. Incentives that are more than enough to negate whatever perks their home country is giving. More importantly, we should also hone the skills (should include some lessons about the American culture) of our call center agents to be more qualified and competitive.