The Outsourcing Week in Review: Wednesday, March 4, 2020

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THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The Philippines currently has one of the lowest rates of COVID-19 infection in South East Asia, with only three confirmed cases and no local transmission. The government’s measures at containment appear to be working, but to avoid complacency the Department of Labor and Employment has urged companies to allow their employees to work from home wherever possible, to limit their risk of exposure to the virus. Although the BPO industry is remaining resilient to the economic global slowdown caused by the virus, it is likely to force multinationals to rationalize their operations leading to closures in the Philippines, says Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez. The closing by Honda of its production facilities in the country and Wells Fargo’s recent announcement that it will reduce its IT business in the Philippines are cases in point.

In light of these challenges, maintaining efforts to improve infrastructure and fostering innovation will be vital to maintaining the continued growth of the country’s IT-BPM and creative industries, says the Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba. Philippine senators have started a comprehensive review of the implementation of the government’s employment generation and industrialization programs. A big push to add 30,000 new data scientists was announced by the Department of Science and Technology which has launched its “Smarter Philippines Through R&D, Training, and Adoption” (SPARTA) program last week. The program will be run in partnership with the Development Academy of the Philippines, the Analytics Association of the Philippines, and CourseBank. Teleperformance Philippines has launched a mentoring service, ‘TP LaunchPad’, for its university-relations initiative. At least 22 of its employees, called ‘Navigators’, are helping their alma maters to guide students through their career paths in the IT-BPM industry.

Maintaining the momentum of infrastructure and expertise upgrades must also be countrywide if it is to keep the development of second-tier cities on track. Cagayan de Oro City is a good example. Business process outsourcing firms in the city are asking the local government for more support, especially in the form of more English-proficient graduates, better mass transportation, and stable WiFi service. The Department of Information and Communications Technology is already grooming the cities of Mati in Davao Oriental and Tagum in Davao del Norte as Next Wave Cities.

International macro-economic watcher Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) has warned that the country’s property market could cool due to its heavy reliance on business offices and online gaming. However, the government believes that the impact of any slowdown in the BPO and gaming industries will be moderate and manageable. Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu province is targeting more operators in the knowledge process outsourcing industry to fill its burgeoning office space. Currently, the city is getting mainly inquiries from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), says the city’s tourism officer Edward Mendez.

In company news last week, New York-headquartered operations and analytics firm ExlService Holdings reported solid full-year and fourth-quarter revenues with the latter hitting US$256.9 million, up 9.4% year-on-year. Indian outsourcing giant Wipro said it has acquired US-based digital marketing company Rational Interaction for US$52 million. Customer experience solutions provider Alorica announced the appointment of Brian Delaney as president of its Latin America and Caribbean operations. Private equity fund Everstone Capital is reportedly selling IT services firm Everise Holdings in a deal worth US$300 million. Everise has 12,000 employees globally with offices in 13 locations, including the Philippines.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

NEWS THIS WEEK

02 March 2020

• Cagayan BPO Firms Seek Gov’t Support – read article…
• ExlService Reports Solid 2019 Performance – read article…
• Alorica Names Brian Delaney Head Of Latin America, Caribbean – read article…

28 February 2020

• Global Slowdown, Virus May Force MNCs To Rationalize Operations – read article…
• Infrastructure To Drive Continuous Growth Of IT-BPM – read article…
• Firms Urged To Allow Telecommuting To Curb Covid-19 Spread – read article…

27 February 2020

• Lapu-Lapu City Aiming To Attract KPO Players – read article…
• Wipro Acquires US Digital Marketing Firm Rational For US$52m – read article…
• Senate Reviews Gov’t Job Generation Programs – read article…

26 February 2020

• PE Firm Everstone Selling IT Services Company Everise – read article…
• New Gov’t Program Aims To Produce 30,000 Data Scientists – read article…
• Cooling Property Market Could Test Philippine Economy – read article…

25 February 2020

• Foreign Firms Cutting Jobs In The Philippines – read article…
• Cities Of Mati And Tagum Groomed As Next Wave Cities – read article…
• Teleperformance Launches Mentors System – read article…

Read more Inside Outsourcing Newsletters here:

1. The Outsourcing Week in Review: February 26, 2020
2. The Outsourcing Week in Review: March 11, 2020