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Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
From BPO awards, to economic news, remote work, and flexible workspaces – we’ll make sure you’re getting all the outsourcing news you need to know. Welcome to Inside Outsourcing – PH Edition.
The demand for flexible workspaces in Metro Manila surged 112% this year, according to The Instant Group. In its latest report, Instant said that the “flex industry” across the city continued to rise due to the widespread adoption of hybrid working models of various industries. They also noted that many Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms are using flexible workspaces as part of their long-term hybrid work solutions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In line with this, flexible office solutions provider KMC Solutions announced the launch a spectrum of hybrid co-working spaces to meet the current work demand and real estate circumstances across the country. KMC Solutions VP of Marketing Gian Reyes said, “real estate is too great of an asset for companies to be saddled with empty offices and unused meeting rooms.” Reyes added that they are confident that the changing needs of both employers and employees will boost the market demand for flexible spaces in the future. KMC Solutions will soon expand its commercial leasing opportunities starting with new offices in The One Ayala Tower in Makati.
The city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan is positioning itself as an ideal market for potential BPO locators and investors. During an investment briefing, city officials talked to investors and interested businessmen about the growth opportunities the city has to offer. Puerto Princesa City Mayor Lucilo Bayron emphasized the competitive advantages that they could offer to businesses — including ease of access, tax incentives, stable peace and order situation, and vast tracts of land that can be commercially developed. The mayor added that they are pursuing various projects to stimulate further economic growth in the city. Similarly, Colliers Philippines is urging developers to build more office spaces in Davao City. In its latest report, the real estate firm said that Davao is one of Mindanao’s most competitive cities, making it a preferred location for multinational outsourcing companies. Colliers expects an annual delivery of 6,100 square meters (sq.m.) of new office supply in Davao City from 2022 to 2024.
iQor Philippinesects to create more job opportunities in the Northern and Central Luzon regions as it pushes its expansions in Clark, Pampanga. According to iQor Senior VP for HR and Global Talent Acquisition Fleurette Navarro, Clark is their “largest and most mature site” in the country, with more than 10,000 employees. Navarro added that this development is part of their promise to bring jobs closer to home and offer excellent employment opportunities to provinces in Luzon. The firm’s expansion is projected to open more than 1,500 roles by year-end. Meanwhile, multinational e-commerce company Shopify is reportedly ramping up its customer support services by outsourcing customer-support roles to the Philippines. According to an article by Insider, the Canada-based firm started recruiting dozens of outsourced customer service representatives through the help of digital-outsourcing company TaskUs. Shopify’s outsourcing efforts came after the firm laid off about 10% — or 1,000 — of its in-house employees last July 2022.
India-based tech firm Zoho plans to expand in the Philippines to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) shift toward digitalization. Zoho VP and General Manager for Asia-Pacific Gibu Mathew said the country “presents an important opportunity for digital transformation and competitiveness.” Matthew added that MSMEs — which make up 99% of all businesses in the Philippines — should adapt to changing market trends, such as using advanced digital tools to run their businesses. Zoho already had an established following in the country, with over 400,000 customers as of this year.
Outsource Accelerator (OA) – publisher of this fine newsletter – remains to be the top source of information for everything outsourcing! The firm’s latest outsourcing performance report for October revealed that its website gathered 229,669 visitors (up 21.42%) and 677,906 page views (up 17.36%) for the month. Inbound inquiries are also saw an upward trend, logging a total of 1,412 from 61 countries across 28 sectors October’s inquiries represent an estimated 2,856 full-time staff with an outsourcing value of $85,680,000. OA also announced that they would release an index called OA500 which would index the top 500 outsourcing firms globally. The list will be out in January 2023. Stay tuned.
And outsourcing-related achievements do not stop there!
Customer experience (CX) products and solutions provider Sitel Philippines recently won the Circle of Excellence for the Top Employer of the Year category at the 2022 Asia CEO Awards. Sitel Group Senior Director for Marketing and Communications for the Asia Pacific (APAC) Cecile Moreno-Venancio said that the award is a testament to the company’s culture and commitment to providing the best working environment to their employees. Venancio added that the firm’s success “is built on the talents within our team.” At the same time, BPO provider Alorica Philippines recently received its first-ever Great Place to Work® certification. As one of the largest outsourcing firms in the country, 81% of Alorica’s 55,000 employees highlighted the company’s positive work culture. Commenting on this achievement, Alorica Philippines VP of Human Resources Jamea Garcia shared that they are creating an “engaging environment where our employees feel accepted, connected, empowered, appreciated, and challenged.”
Congratulations!
As part of their mission to help young Filipinos pursue careers in the BPO industry, outsourcing giant Teleperformance donated P5 million (US$85,531) to the non-profit organization Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y). In a press release, the firm explained that the donation is part of its commitment to investing in the country’s future. Teleperformance Senior VP for Human Capital Resource Management Jeffrey Johnson said the donation would sponsor 75 young Filipinos undergoing LP4Y’s professional integration and character formation program for six months.
Philippine fiber broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions is collaborating with customer relationship management platform Salesforce to improve its CX services. According to Converge, this deal will help elevate CX through intelligent AI and cloud-based solutions. Salesforce ASEAN Area VP for Sales Amit Suxena added that by automating the process, removing complexities, and providing data-driven insights, brands could focus on “delighting customers instead of reacting.” Converge will work with the Salesforce Professional Services team for this partnership.
Unemployment in the Philippines dropped to five per cent in September, the country’s lowest in more than two years. According to new data released by the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA), this translates to 2.50 million unemployed Filipinos out of 50.08 million Filipinos in the labor force in September 2022. Meanwhile, the country’s labor force participation rate (LFPR) was at 65.2%, higher than last year’s 63.3%. However, the underemployment rate increased to 15.4% as 7.33 million Filipino workers expressed the desire to either have additional work hours in their current job, have an additional job, or have a new job with longer hours of work.
Speaking of employment, the House Committee on Ways and Means is collaborating with the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to lower the withholding tax on Filipino freelancers employed by US-based companies. According to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Joey Salceda, they are working on offering lower tax rates to freelancers, something “much lower for personal income.” He added that the country could earn as much as P26 billion (US$444 million) in revenues, as opposed to the US making as much as P75 billion ((US$1.28 billion) in taxes from Filipino freelancers. Filipino freelancers and content creators currently pay a 30% tax within the US.
Strengthening the Philippines’ STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs will allow the Philippines to compete with countries with lower wages, said Rizal Commercial Banking Corp Chief Economist Michael Ricafort. In an interview with BusinessWorld, Ricafort stated that improving the country’s STEM initiative would help better position the Philippines “in the higher end of the global supply chain and as an alternative investment destination for high-tech industries.” On the other hand, ACT-Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro said that the STEM education program in the country must also be directed towards local industry development and not just towards producing overseas labor.
Finally, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) is partnering with Great Place To Work Philippines to publish a list of the best IT-BPM workplaces in the country. According to IBPAP, the list will recognize “high-trust” workplaces within the industry and “showcase why it is one of the country’s most vibrant and dynamic sectors.” Great Place To Work Philippines Managing Partner Antoinette Mendoza-Talosig added that their partnership with IBPAP paves the way for the firm to advance its mission of building a better world by creating great places to work.
Excited to see who will make it to the list!
Thursday, November 10, 2022
NEWS THIS WEEK
09 November 2022
- Indian tech firm to expand in PH – read article…
- Flexible workspaces in PH capital see a rise in demand – read article…
- IBPAP, Great Place To Work Philippines to list ‘high trust’ workplaces in PH – read article…
- Improving STEM education could boost PH’s competitiveness – read article…
08 November 2022
- Shopify outsources customer support to PH – read article…
- Puerto Princesa highlights its potential as an ideal investment market – read article…
- PH unemployment rate down to 5% in September – read article…
- PH inflation ballooned to 7.7% in October – read article…
07 November 2022
- KMC Solutions to launch hybrid co-working spaces – read article…
- Gov’t to lower taxes for Filipino freelancers – read article…
- Converge boosts CX services with Salesforce – read article…
- Teleperformance donates P5M to help Filipino youth – read article…
04 November 2022
- Alorica PH receives ‘Great Place to Work’ certification for the 1st time – read article…
- Colliers urges developers to build more office space in Davao City – read article…
- iQor’s Clark expansion creates more jobs in North, Central Luzon – read article…
- Sitel PH wins employer of the year at the 2022 Asia CEO Awards – read article…
03 November 2022
- Philippines digital economy up 8% to P1.87Tn in 2021 – read article…
- Business groups intensify calls for POGO shutdown – read article…
- CCAP forecasts 500K addt’l call center jobs in the countryside by 2028 – read article…
- PH gov’t to create an “enabling investor climate” – NEDA Chief – read article…
