Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
The big story last week was the US$2.8 billion sale of Convergys to Synnex. Both are major global players in the outsourcing space with significant operations in the Philippines, and time will tell whether local job cuts will be in the offing. There are also job jitters after another merger between US telecoms giants, Sprint and T-Mobile was announced. 30,000 jobs will be lost in the US, and both companies have already outsourced extensively to the Philippines, so the impact here is not yet clear. It was a good week for Accenture, which announced that its Q3 revenue growth was up 16%, and that it had received an award as ‘Leader’ in the prestigious IDC’s vendor assessment awards.
Meanwhile the country’s BPO infrastructure continues to grow. Negros is planning to build a P500 million development with BPO tenants a central theme. Not only are BPO businesses driving developer activity, but also the increased wealth of their employees. Festive Walk Mall opened in Iloilo City as part of major developments going on in the city; not only to attract BPO locators, but also to provide residential property and retail services for their workers. According to a Colliers report, it is BPO workers in Cebu that are underpinning the city’s ongoing property boom. DICT finally published its draft criteria for the selection of the country’s third telco company.
With BPO workers central to maintaining growth in the nation’s emerging middle class with disposable income, investment in their well-being was again making the news. BPO companies continue to boost their efforts to find and hold onto their talent. DOLE and Rotary announced that BPO workers are now eligible for its Ten Outstanding Workers of the Republic awards; the BPO Olympics kicked off, and the annual Cebu BPO volleyball competition this year will move around the city’s barangays with a job fair in tow. The industrious vice president of the National Information and Communication Council of the Philippines, Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, was once again pushing the importance of ICT skills, this time in Samar.
Hopefully, the clients will keep on coming. The announcement by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority that 70 cryptocurrency companies from around Asia are interested in setting up back office operations at its facilities in Manila is very positive. So is the continuing low value of the Philippine peso. The outsourcing sector will be much reassured that Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is also aware of its benefits to the industry. According to Diokno, what the Philippine economy needs is a competitive peso, not a strong peso. Few in outsourcing would argue with that.
News Roundup
02 July 2018
- Iloilo’s infrastructure will attract more BPO firms – Alliance Global – read article…
- Cebu BPO volleyball tournament will bring job fairs to barangays – read article…
- Weak peso to benefit BPO industry – Benjamin Diokno – read article…
29 June 2018
- Accenture posts 16% growth in Q3 financial results – read article…
- Convergys confirms its sale to Synnex for USD2.8bn – read article…
- DOLE, Rotary to include BPO in honoring Filipino workers – read article…
28 June 2018
- 30,000 to lose jobs in Sprint, T-Mobile merger – read article…
- Negros to build P500m building with BPO component – read article…
- BPO Olympics off to a good start – read article…
27 June 2018
- 3rd telco player must invest P40bn a year – DICT – read article…
- Accenture gets recognition for its business analytics services – read article…
- ICT empowerment will help promote skills needed to land BPO jobs – read article…
26 June 2018
- 70 foreign cryptocurrency firms eye BPO operations in the Philippines – read article…
- Synnex Corp in talks to acquire Convergys – read article…
- BPO employees continue to drive Cebu’s property market – Colliers – read article…