The Outsourcing Week in Review: Wednesday, February 3, 2021

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THE WEEK IN REVIEW

The Philippines has partially opened its borders again after its earlier quick-response travel ban following the UK strain outbreak in late December.

However, the borders are far from normal with many restrictions still in place and foreigners are largely prohibited from entering.  Arriving passengers are subjected to 5-day compulsory facility-based quarantine upon arrival, with subsequent release after a negative swab test.

This week’s episode of the Outsource Accelerator Podcast features a special COVID-19 update with Greg Wyatt, Director of Business Intelligence at PSA Philippines Consultancy, Inc. Wyatt provided valuable updates on the current COVID-19 situation, the vaccine roll-out, as well as his thoughts on COVID’s impact on the future of the PH workforce. Wyatt commended the efforts of the private sector to provide vaccines to its employees, as well as the government’s good strategy of “having a vaccine portfolio instead of relying on [just] one [vaccine].”  Download the episode from wherever you get your podcasts (Apple, Spotify, etc), or listen here.

A UK-based Oxford Economics report said that the Philippine’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be the strongest in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region for 2021. They project that the country’s GDP is expected to grow 7.7% this year, similar to Vietnam. Further, the Philippines’ 29 per cent growth in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) last year made it the only economy to post FDI growth in Southeast Asia.

The outsourcing sector remains a major contributor to the country’s economic resilience. The online job portal JobStreet identified the outsourcing sector as the most active hiring industry again for January. Twenty-three per cent of all recruiting companies came from the sector, followed by government and defence; human resources management; education; and computer software firms. JobStreet also noted that there are over 18,000 employment opportunities in the Mindanao region alone. Leading BPOs like SixEleven, based in Davao in Mindanao, are continuing to expand their workforce by hiring more professional developers, accountants, team leaders, and more.

A recent report by Syntax has shown that more international companies are considering outsourcing their security operations. According to a survey by the cloud services provider, 83 per cent of Information Technology (IT) leaders in the United States are thinking of switching to IT outsourcing, as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated their firms’ digital transformation last year. In the United Kingdom, British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) Chairman Chris Nelson said British companies are waiting for the passing of the Retail Trade Liberalization Act and Public Services Act as a signal to invest in the Philippines.

In its effort to attract emerging digital and fintech startups, the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) engaged the expertise of Grand Innovasia Concept Corp. (GICC) and its partner, Impero Consortium Management Corp. (Impero), to be its marketing arm and internal auditor for companies interested in acquiring AFAB’s Offshore Blockchain Financial Technology Services (OBFTS) licences. GICC-Impero will do the evaluation for the endorsement of all applications to operate within the area.

Who wouldn’t want a GICC AFAB OBFTS!

In Cebu City, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has appealed to BPOs in the city to cooperate with COVID protocols and the city’s contact tracers. The EOC has reported that some BPOs are trying to hide their workers that have proved positive to the coronavirus.

According to the data consumer company Statista and the International Labor Organization (ILO) respectively, the Philippines ranks fifth globally among countries with the highest number of women in executive/managerial positions. Fifty per cent of the country’s managerial positions are held by women. Our readers might be surprised to learn that the top-ranking country, with 62 per cent of female executives, is Jordan.

Manila’s ranking as a real estate investment destination has declined two spots to 19th amongst its peers, according to the 2021 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report by Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Manila ranked an unimpressive 19th out of 22 cities in Asia. In line with this, real estate consultancy firm Santos Knight Frank projects the office sector vacancy rate to increase in 2021 with these new supplies coming into the market. An additional 1.2 million square meters of leasable space in the office market is expected for the country this year.

For our BPO announcements, there is some good news and bad news. Unfortunately, major IT-BPO firm Tech Mahindra is seeking to cut 5,000 staff off its current workforce, citing that larger parts of their tasks were now being completed through automation and artificial intelligence. However, global BPO provider Sitel Group is set to provide more job opportunities this year. The BPO last year launched its MAXhub initiative – a hub that will operate as a development center dedicated to employees and their communities. Recently, the firm launched its 11th Sitel MAXhub in Balanga, Bataan.

>>> Got any burning news? Share your industry hot scoops and company press releases with Inside Outsourcing – the world’s leading outsourcing news hub.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

NEWS THIS WEEK

2 February 2021

• UK FM outsourcing projected to dip this 2021 – read article…
• Tech Mahindra to reduce up to 5k staff due to automation – read article…
• PH ranked fifth in countries with highest number of female execs – read article…

1 February 2021

• PH to relax travel ban on ‘variant’ countries – read article…
• Bataan freeport opens doors for fintech firms – read article…
• Almost 19k job vacancies seen in Mindanao – read article…

29 January 2021

• CEBU EOC warns BPOs to allow contact tracers in – read article…
• Economists optimistic for PH growth this 2021 – read article…
• BPOs topped list of active hiring industries in January 2021’ – read article…

28 January 2021

• Sitel offers new WFH opportunities through MAXhub initiative – read article…
• PH office sector’s vacancy rate to increase this year – read article…
• PH’s projected 2021 GDP growth ‘strongest’ in Asean – read article…
• 83% of IT leaders considering outsourced security efforts – read article…

27 January 2021

• BIR collected over P7bn in POGO taxes – read article…
• Manila’s investment site appeal slumps – read article…
• British firms waiting for some bills’ passage to invest in PH – read article…
• PH the ‘lone economy’ in SEA to post FDI growth – read article…

Read more Inside Outsourcing Newsletters here:

1. The Outsourcing Week in Review: January 27, 2021
2. The Outsourcing Week in Review: February 10, 2021