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Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan called for the continued expansion of the BPO industry in his country and encouraged it to enhance its adaptability to the changing economic environment. In a Royal Court statement, King Abdullah acknowledged the sector, which currently employs 8,000 people, for “providing job opportunities in the governorates, facilitating work from home, and empowering women.”
A provincial government in Pakistan allotted Rs14 billion (approximately US$ 188 million) worth of digital projects in its Annual Development Program (ADP) to boost the country’s digital economy, transparency and service delivery to citizens. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s Minister for Science Technology and Information Technology (ST&IT) Atif Khan said the provincial government is interested in materializing its dream of a digital Pakistan.
Further, according to Invest in Bogota, Colombia’s investment promotions agency, over 50 international companies are considering relocating their operations to the city. The agency said it identified Information Technology-business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) companies from the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Norway, among others, that recognize Bogota as a strategic nearshore destination. Way to go!
A recently-released report by IT research firm Everest Group revealed that there has been an increased demand – albeit minimal – on global IT outsourcing transactions in Q1 2021. According to the report, the rise in the global IT outsourcing uptake was driven by “cloud services, cybersecurity, digital engineering and support for the modern workplace.”
India’s IT-BPO sector, which has faced dramatic challenges from the pandemic in recent months, is holding back from asking employees to return to offices, opting instead to wait until more employees have been vaccinated. According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), around 20 to 25 per cent of employees have received at least one dose by now. NASSCOM has refuted recent widespread reports – which Inside Outsourcing also covered – claiming that Indian firms are expected to cut up to three million employees by 2022. In a statement, the organization said India’s IT industry has “robust hiring plans,” adding that the top five Indian IT firms are planning to add over 96,000 employees.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has set about simplifying some of its complex business guidelines to “offer greater ease of business and regulatory clarity.” The guidelines for Other Service Providers (OSPs), which pertains to the outsourcing sector, removed the distinction between domestic and global units, allowing interconnectivity between all types of OSPs – application services, IT-enabled services, call center services, or any kind of outsourcing services. The expectation is that simplification will enable common communication resources, which are expected to lead to cost-savings for BPO companies. #StillNotSimple.
Rising outsourcing destination, South Africa, was placed on Alert Level Four – just one level below a total lockdown – due to the highly contagious new Delta coronavirus variant infections. In a televised address to the nation, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said the rainbow country “is facing a massive resurgence of infection, and is “in the grip of a devastating wave that by all indications seems like it will be worse than those that preceded it.” Our hearts go out to the people of South Africa.
Fiji’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Council has its sights set on the 100% inoculation of its member firms’ workforce. BPO Council executive director Sagufta Janif said 60% of the industry’s workforce already received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose. Janif added that having a 100% vaccination rate will help the country’s BPO industry solve its Work From Home (WFH)-related difficulties.
In other BPO news, global outsourcing firm Helpware’s corporate social responsibility initiative, the Helpcare Foundation, hosted its first global webinar where BPO providers, customers and individuals assembled to help fight childhood cancers across the world. The webinar highlighted the importance of support and engagement within an organization to not only improve personal health, belonging and morale, but also improving global communities.
Jamaican international customer experience firm itel announced its expansion in Guyana, Honduras, and Colombia in the second half of the year. Currently, itel has operations in four countries, including the Bahamas and Saint Lucia.
Finally, Indian IT services provider Wipro announced a second salary hike for 80% of its staff as the firm aims to attract and retain top talent in the tech sector. In a statement, Wipro, which is known for its low executive salaries and a frugal billionaire founder, said it “will initiate merit salary increases (MSI) for all eligible employees up to Band B3 (Assistant Manager and below), effective September 1, 2021.” Congratulations to the Wipro employees!
Thursday, June 29, 2021
NEWS THIS WEEK
28 June 2021
- Fiji BPOs eye 100% vaccinated workforce – read article…
- Foreign companies see Bogota as site to relocate operations – read article…
- South Africa amps up restrictions against Delta variant – read article…
- 14 defendants indicted in alleged $1M call center kickback scheme – read article…
- 30 arrested in 2 fake call centers in Delhi – read article…
25 June 2021
- Jordan king calls for BPO expansion – read article…
- Itel announces expansion to Guyana, Honduras, and Colombia – read article…
- NASSCOM welcomes India’s commitment towards ease of doing business – read article…
- Marginal rise in global IT demand in Q1 – Everest Group – read article…
24 June 2021
- India eases guidelines for BPO sector – read article…
- Invita leads in BPO services – read article…
- Pakistan allots Rs14 billion for digital projects – read article…
23 June 2021
- Wipro announces second salary hike in 2021 – read article…
- IT-BPO not rushing return to office – read article…
- BPOs back Fiji’s vaccination plan – read article…
- Tech sector set to raise need for office space in APAC – read article…
22 June 2021
- The HelpCare Foundation, BPOs come together to fight childhood cancer – read article…
- NASSCOM denies report on 3 million job cuts in IT – read article…
- Andhra Pradesh tops in new job creation under IBPS scheme – read article…
