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Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Whereas the world’s large multinationals have long grasped the business benefits of outsourcing, the global SME sector is only just taking them on board, writes Derek Gallimore of Outsource Accelerator in the Manila Times. This sector should drive the “next wave” of outsourcing to the Philippines, and will create 30 million high-paying skilled, and offer higher salaries, says Gallimore, and provide unmatched resilience to automation and AI.
Along with the increasing development of digital services driving the country’s skills transition, comes the need for greater cybersecurity risk management. Reassuringly, the BPO sector – along with the gaming sector – is a big investor in cybersecurity services and activities in the Philippines, according to Malcolm Rowe, IBM business unit executive for Southeast Asia. The digital transition will not always be easy. A good example is National Australia Bank, which is now phasing out its outsourcing of IT services due to problems in shifting from outdated technology systems to a new cloud-based system.
Concerns over the impact of the US-China trade dispute continue to cast a shadow over the region’s growth. Philippines GDP growth is likely to drop below 6% for all of 2019, according to UK-based Oxford Economics. Interest in investing in the country, however, remains robust. Germany, a country with one of the world’s most successful medium-sized business sectors, is keen to boost its business activities in the country, according to a German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry report. Australia’s newly appointed ambassador to the Philippines, Steven Robinson, has said there are currently 300 Australian companies in the country with interests in business process outsourcing, mining, gas, infrastructure, and finance, and there is the potential for more.
In the regions, the development of BPO infrastructure maintains its impetus. According to Colliers International Philippines, outsourcing companies have increased demand for office space in Bacolod. In Cebu, Colliers has signed a management contract with Arthaland for its prestigious Cebu Exchange Tower, due to open in 2021 and which will be a major supplier of new space to the BPO sector. At a recent Transformation Summit held in Cebu, Mitch Locsin, first vice president and head of PLDT Enterprise, said Cebu is one of their key areas when it comes to connectivity advancement. Butch Velasquez, Globe Telecom product marketing head, said Cebu is fast becoming an IT hub with companies competing both regionally and globally.
Demand for talent in the regions also remains high. Iloilo City mayor, Jose Espinosa III, said the city’s BPO sector needs at least 5,000 more workers; and Jessraf Palmares, chairman of the Iloilo Federation for Information Technology, said the industry currently has 26,000 workers. In Davao City, Erwin Cagape of the Public Employment Service Office Davao said Sutherland Global Services Philippines is targeting its recruitment activity at persons with disabilities and out-of-school candidates who want to become call center agents. For those looking for Generation Z hires, Gartner’s Global Labor Market Survey has some interesting insights. It found that 23% of Generation Z workers picked development opportunities as a top attraction driver, compared with only 17% of their millennial predecessors in 2013. They also prefer to work in any location and believe in integrating play into work.
Internationally, Accenture Plc has called into question the digital offerings of Indian firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), as the companies jostle competitively for clients in the emerging digital transformation space. Global ICT solutions and services group Datatec announced improved revenues across all divisions in its audited provisional results for the year ended 28 February 2019. Canon Business Process Services announced that it has added a 10,000-square-foot eastern regional facility in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to supplement its operations in the US and the Philippines, that service growing demand in digital transformation from clients.
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
NEWS THIS WEEK
20 May 2019
- Arthaland and Colliers sign leasing agreement – read article…
- New Australian envoy seeks stronger economic ties with PH – read article…
- Datatec reports improved financial performance – read article…
17 May 2019
- SMEs expected to provide bright future for Philippine outsourcing – read article…
- BPO firm holds job fair for PWDs – read article…
- Canon Business Process Services expands business processing center operations – read article…
16 May 2019
- Outsourcing firms main drivers of office space in Bacolod – read article…
- 40% of Gen Z employees regret career decisions, says study – read article…
- Philippine GDP growth likely to fall below 6% in 2019 – read article…
15 May 2019
- German firms keen on doing business in Philippines – read more
- Accenture mocks Tata’s offerings as digital war heats up – read article…
- NAB insourcing staff as its shifts to cloud – read article…
14 May 2019
- BPO, gaming sectors “big investors” in Philippine cybersecurity – read article…
- Iloilo city plans to become job destination in Visayas and Mindanao – read article…
- Cebu must change its mindset to fully embrace digitalization – read article…
