BPO industry’s increasing shift to automation worries call center agents, impacts women more

BAGUIO CITY – The government continues to tout the business process outsourcing sector as a key growth driver and jobs generator, but has not done much to stem the danger of job losses as many big businesses, especially foreign clients, shift to automation, an industry leader said.

According to BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) spokesperson Mylene Cabalona, the IT-Business Process Management (ITBPM) has reported the alarming impact of automation on jobs, given that at present BPO workers do not enjoy security of tenure even if they are considered regular employees.

According to the ITBPM, employment in the low-end services will be slashed by at least 43,000 due to the shift to automation. The International Labour Organization (ILO) paints a dimmer picture – citing that 89% of BPO workers in the Philippines are at high risk due to the change in technology.

“Companies implement many schemes in order to ‘manage out’ employees when necessary. Workers are forced to resign or their companies render them floating for months with no pay when clients pull out from vendors, even if the company is continuously hiring for other clients. With the projected job losses due to automation, the situation can get worse and massive,” Cabalona said.

The group underscored the precarious nature of jobs and the vulnerability of the BPO industry itself. “The possible impact on jobs and workers of this shift to automation also exposes how insecure jobs are in the BPO industry and even the industry itself. It is heavily reliant on foreign markets and changes, outside of our control. The danger is the government seems to depend on BPO industry to generate employment, however precarious. If the government is serious at securing decent jobs for the people, then it should look into developing more robust industries to create jobs,” Cabalona said.

No unions

The group noted that since trade unions in the BPO Industry are virtually non-existent, BPO employees do not have a voice, are unable to defend their rights, and are thus bound to suffer the consequences of automation.

“The shift to automation is ultimately driven by companies’ desire to further bring down its costs. And the disruptions due to the shift to automation do not pertain to business disruptions, because this shift will benefit companies more while livelihoods of thousands of Filipino workers and their families will be at risk,” Cabalona added.

The group is also worried that the shift from low-end services to middle and high-end services with automation will disadvantage more women working in the BPO industry. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), majority of those working in the BPO sector are women but they are largely employed in low-paid and low-skilled jobs.

“Companies and the government should be reminded that it is first and foremost their responsibility to uphold and respect the right of workers to secure and decent jobs. The shift in technology should not mean displacement and burden for the workers. BPO workers are thus summoned to unite and take action to assert our rights in this context,” Cabalona added.

source: interaksyon.com

Acquire BPO aims to expand to 10,000 employees in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Australian business process outsourcing company Acquire aims to add three thousand employees to its current operation in the Philippines in the near term.

Acquire Chief Executive Scott Stavretis said in an interview that from a present 7,000 workforce, he is aiming to expand to 10,000. Stavretis said such expansion may entail adding 3 more sites to their current nine in the Philippines.

“We have new locations that we are currently scouting. Last November, I was looking at different locations both here in Metro Manila as well as in other locations like Cebu,” Stavretis said.

Stavretis said that for the local BPO industry to grow, he is hoping to see more workers with language premiums such as in Spanish and European languages.

“The biggest challenge that we face is other languages, more so than different skills sets. English has always been the ideal solution, but in the European and Spanish market, that’s where the Philippines is going to have the most challenge rather than in new skill sets,” Stavretis said. “It’s a barrier. If the Philippines really wants to be the headquarters for ASEAN integration and to be the number one destination, and move the BPO into a single presence, then language is certainly going to be an issue

Stavretis said he is trying to lobby the Commission on Higher Education to have added language courses in different schools.

Acquire gobbled up Philippine BPO company Shore Solutions in November, 2014, adding 2,500 employees to its operations. Stavretis said they successfully integrated Shore to their operations during the first half of 2015. Most of the company’s clients are currently in telco, consumer retail, and finance.

source: interaksyon.com

BPOs brace for lower revenues, as US shutdown coincides with peak season

MANILA - The Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) industry expects revenues to dip in the fourth quarter, as American consumer demand could weaken as a result of the US government shutdown that began yesterday.

"In terms of volumes of calls, affected American consumers may be not buying, not transacting. These are the calls going to the Philippines," Jose Mari P. Mercado, president of the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), told reporters today.



US laws forbid the outsourcing of federal work, but American legislators' failure to pass a new budget sent 800,000 government employees on unpaid leave starting yesterday.

Philippine call center volumes from the US usually climb by a quarter during the "ber" months on increased business transactions accompanying holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mercado said.

While it is "too early to tell" how much the impact would be, reduced call volumes may eventually temper BPO firms' revenues, he said.

US clients account for two-thirds of BPO work done in the Philippines. The country's sunrise BPO industry is one of the key sources of foreign exchange earnings, which along with remittances have insulated the Philippines from the recent volatility in foreign investment flows.

Mercado said the BPO industry however is "not scared" of the shutdown, which he expects the US government to resolve soon.

"It will be fixed in a week's time. They cannot afford to remain shut down for a long time," he said.

Paul Townsend, general manager of the Philippine BPO operations of US-based Capital One Financial Corporation, said, "We do not see the shutdown impacting on our business in the Philippines.

Capital One only recently opened its BPO operations in Manila.

source: interaksyon.com

BPO sector payroll to hit P247 billion this year

MANILA – The country’s business process outsourcing sector is expected to shell out a total of P247 billion in salaries to its workers this year, boosting consumption spending, a lawmaker said Thursday.

“No matter how we look at it, P247 billion represents a huge amount of money being coursed through the economy every year, and helping to drive consumption spending,” Pasig Representative Roman Romulo said.

The consumption spending will help create recurring demand for goods and services, thus perking up domestic industries, he said.

The P247 billion represents about 40 to 45 percent of the sector’s revenue, projected to hit up to $13 billion this year.

“To put the P247 billion into perspective, it is equal to around 14 percent of the national government’s P1.816-trillion spending program this year, and larger than the budgets of the top five departments,” Romulo said.

A previous survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that BPO employees on average receive P383,863 in annual compensation.

Romulo said the P247 billion is also some 53 percent greater than the P161 billion in combined annual benefits paid by the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to their respective members.

The SSS and GSIS paid P76 billion and P50 billion, respectively, in benefits to their members in 2011, while Philhealth paid P35 billion.

The BPO industry is projected to rake in up to $27 billion in annual revenues and directly engage some 1.3 million Filipino workers by 2016. It posted $11 billion in revenues on a labor force of 638,000 in 2011.

This year, the sector hopes to create 126,000 new jobs and generate $2 billion in extra earnings, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines.

The industry encompasses contact center services; medical, legal and other data transcription; animation; software development; engineering design; and digital content.

source: interaksyon.com