Vol. XXI, No. 214 [ Business World Online ]
Monday, June 2, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINE-BASED business process outsourcing (BPO) firms now face a bigger problem than local competition for talent in brain drain, as industry workers have started eyeing higher-paying contact center jobs abroad.
No longer looking for just another
local contact center to move on to. — AFP
Industry players said in a forum early last week that this is an even bigger problem than BPO employees simply moving from one local company to another local firm in search of better employment conditions.
"In the past, I would lose my agent to another company. Now, they are going abroad," said Rosalie Montenegro, former senior vice-president of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. call center, Ventus.
Ms. Montenegro, one of the speakers in the lecture "A 360-degree View of the Business Process Outsourcing Industry" at the Asian Institute of Management last week, said foreign "poaching" of local talent is putting pressure on recruitment by and the cost of BPO firms.
The entry-level rate for a contact center agent in Metro Manila averages at P15,000.
Business Process Association of the Philippines Executive Director Mitch L. Locsin said, however, that some companies abroad offer Filipino agents as much as three times the rate they are getting here.
"It is a bigger problem than attrition [due to pirating by local competitors]. They are getting agents to man call centers in Dubai for their hotels and Singapore for IT [information technology] for three times the salary. They are getting engineers and accountants," Mr. Locsin said in a separate interview.
He said local companies can win the battle for BPO talents by offering agents more opportunities for career improvement, training, travel, and work exchange programs.
Mr. Locsin added that cooperation among industry associations, industry players and the government should help prevent avert deeper brain drain problem and keep jobs and employees in the country.
The Call Center Association of the Philippines earlier projected that the industry will employ as much as 500,000 agents by 2010.
The government itself projects that the BPO will reap $13 billion in revenues by then.
IP Contact Center Outsourcing, Inc. President and Chief Executive Mohan Kulkarni said the outlook for the BPO industry in the country continues to be positive.
"Only about 12% to 15% [of work] are currently outsourced. You are talking of 85% more. The industry yields $300 billion per year. The Philippines’ [share] is about $8 billion to $10 billion today," Mr. Kulkarni said. — Anna Barbara L. Lorenzo
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