Philippines, as one of the top offshore BPO destinations of the world, employed more than 1.3 million people and generated an approximation of 22.5 billion US dollars of revenue in 2017. The industry is currently the fastest growing in the country, and it's nearing to overtake the revenue from the OFW's remittances, especially this year, that most of the Overseas Filipino Workers now failed to send their remittances home because of the pandemic crisis.
BPO is now the trends among businesses since it provides lucrative opportunity both for the Filipino workers and investors around the globe. It greatly impacted the Philippines' economy as it boost its economic growth and it attracted many investors. But what is BPO? What are the factors that help the BPO industry in the Philippines boom, and is now one of the global leaders in providing outsourcing services?
What is BPO?
BPO or Business Process Outsourcing is a business practice of contracting third-party company to perform some business functions for them. Such common functions are human resources, customer services, accounting and payroll. The third-party company sets-up services more efficiently than if the company sets its own services. Therefore, BPO offers a more flexible and cost-efficient alternatives.
Don't be confused between Call Center and BPO.
Call center is only a kind of BPO services offered, and is limited only on costumer services. On the other hand, BPO industry is not limited on customer services only, it offers a lot of outsourcing administrative services such as payroll, human resources, accounting and customer services—call center is under the customer service.
Factors that helped the booming of the BPO industry in the Philippines.
The country's BPO industry has started as early as 1992 by Frank Holz, when he set up the first contact center here in the Philippines. Since then, the industry has a steady growth and rises into the top global BPO industry. The following are the key factors of it's growth:
Filipinos' proficiency in English Language.
Many investors choose Philippines as an ideal location to set up their BPO company because the Filipinos are more fluent in English language than any other competing countries. It was estimated that 70 percent of the country's population are fluent in English. Filipinos are also said to have a close affinity to western influences—courtesy of its past western colonizers. Those reasons set Filipinos apart from the other country's skilled workers, as they can handle irate customers over the call.
Government's Support.
The Philippines' government is devoted in promoting its BPO industry. Through some legislative amendments, they give some favorable environments for investors on setting up their businesses in the country. An example of such effort is the passing of the Data Privacy Act of 2012, which protect everyone's right to privacy of communication while keeping the flow of information. It ensures the security of sensitive information being handled. Further programs were implemented to attract more investors, such as tax holidays, tax exemptions, and simplified import and export procedures.
Filipino Hospitality.
Filipinos welcome foreign business investors as it boost greatly to the country's gross domestic product. The hospitable environment makes the country an enticing location for the foreign investors to set up businesses.
In conclusion, BPO industry will continue as a trend for many years to come. But there are no guarantees that there will be no obstacles along the way. Other counterparts countries are also stepping up there own BPO industry to keep up with the trend. Philippines must maintain its development on the industry through additional infrastructure and internet improvement. The government must also address the emerging problems suffered by the workers especially on their physical and mental health issues.
Thanks for reading.
Lead Photo source: https://www.piton-global.com/philippine-call-center
