The Outsourcing Week in Review: Thursday, July 22, 2021

Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Aside from being an outsourcing powerhouse, the Philippines is working to become the top creative economy in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) by 2030.

Chairman of the House Committee on Creative Industry and Performing Arts Rep. Christopher de Venecia announced that this is the goal set by the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP). De Venecia said that the country has “the tools and all the potential and the building blocks” needed to achieve this lofty goal.

Various economists are forecasting that the Philippine economy will grow five to six per cent this year. Jose Patricio Dumlao, president of Metrobank Group’s investment banking arm First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC), said the economic recovery will be driven by the faster vaccine rollout, as well as the constant push of infrastructure projects. He added that “now, we are seeing our economy switching from resilience to growth.” Meanwhile, the University of Asia and the Pacific economist Vic Abola reacted to Fitch’s negative Philippine ranking by saying, “Fitch has a record of seeing negatives in the Philippines. It is the only one amongst the rating agencies which still retains BBB. The other two, S&P and Moody’s [have] BBB Plus.”

However, according to the World Bank (WB), the Philippines still needs to speed up the passage of key reform measures to increase Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). In a briefing, WB president David Malpass emphasized the importance of legislative changes to attract investments. Currently, the government is pushing for amendments to the Foreign Investments Act, Public Service Act and Retail Trade Liberalization Act.

The Silicon Valley-based creators of an accent conversion technology, Sanas, have just closed a $5.5 million seed round! Sanas’ CEO, Maxim Serebryakov, believes that the innovative  technology “will add enormous value to call centers where ‘accent matching’ can effortlessly reduce communication and friction, and increase customer satisfaction.”

Inside Outsourcing previously wrote about Sanas, which could potentially revolutionize millions of Filipino and Indian call center jobs. You can also listen to the full podcast interview with Sanas co-founder, Andrés Pérez Soderi.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno stated that the Philippine government should focus on a faster vaccine rollout instead of passing the Bayanihan to Arise as One Act – a bill that aims to provide more aid to Filipinos amid the pandemic. Diokno noted that “the success of the vaccination program is the key to a strong and sustained economic recovery.” In line with this, the country received over 1.6 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine and 1.5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine over the weekend. Since February this year, the country has received a total of over 24 million new COVID-19 vaccine doses.

In addition, the government is planning to seek the help of BPO firms and call centers to help with the country’s contact tracing efforts. Contact tracing czar Benjamin Magalong noted that they are working out a deal for these services to become part of the BPO sector’s corporate social responsibility to make it free of charge. To us, this looks like another way the government is leaning on the private sector, instead of positively bolstering it.

Outside Metro Manila, Aboitiz Group‘s Lima Land will develop a new seven-tower office complex in a 30-hectare commercial zone in Batangas to cope with the BPO sector’s rising office demand. The first structure of the complex – which will be called LIMA Tower One – will break ground by Q4. It’s exciting to see many businesses investing in the BPO industry!

In other BPO news, outsourcing solutions firm Microsourcing has recently been awarded the distinction of “Best Workplace” by Voice Project, which recognizes organizations that measured exceptional levels of employee satisfaction and engagement. Microsourcing is proud to be one of the organizations spanning more than 40 industries that have achieved staff satisfaction levels of 80% or more. Further, the firm’s CEO Haidee Enriquez stated that they’re highly anticipating an “even stronger 2022 result.”

Outsourcing provider OP360 recently donated to a special education center in Cebu Province as part of its successful Adopt-a-School Program. According to the firm’s Chief Administrative Officer David Highbloom, eight nominee schools presented priority projects for which the donation would be used. The OP360 Management Team then voted for the winner, Don Vicente Rama Memorial Elementary School – Special Education Center. As a surprise bonus, all eight of the nominee schools received multiple computers from the company!

Great job, OP360!

Thursday, July 22, 2021

NEWS THIS WEEK

21 July 2021

• Filipinos open for retraining, said Jobstreet – read article…
• PH Senate to pass 10 eco measures next month – read article…
• Dumaguete, PH unveils Smart City’ – read article…
• PH economy faces decline due to Delta variant – read article…

20 July 2021

• PH travelers banned in some countries – read article…
• PH warned of a possible rise in COVID-19 Delta variant – read article…
• PH needs FDI reforms, said World Bank – read article…
• PH and Brunei partners on DTA – read article…

19 July 2021

• PH should focus on vaccine roll-out, said Diokno – read article…
• DOLE to expand in the PH – read article…
• PH receives J&J and Sinovac vaccines – read article…
• PH economy will increase by 5-6% this year – read article…

16 July 2021

• NCR Plus still under GCQ, MECQ announced in other areas – read article…
• Japanese investments in PH on hold over red tape – read article…
• BPO firm OP360 donates to a SPED school in PH – read article…
• PH can possibly become ASEAN top creative by 2030 – read article…

15 July 2021

• MicroSourcing awarded ‘Best Workplace’ distinction – read article…
• BPOs asked to help in contact tracing efforts – read article…
• BPO leads the increase for office space demand – read article…
• LIMA to build new complex outside NCR – read article…
• PH economy may increase to 6% in 2021 – read article…