The Outsourcing Week in Review: Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

India’s IT industry is predicting an 11% revenue growth for the fiscal year 2021-2022, which is mainly driven by outsourcing and digital transformation services. India’s IT sector had faced many pandemic-induced challenges last year, but now it’s on its way to a strong recovery – according to a report by analytical company Crisil.

The country’s National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) CEO Survey 2021 released an ambitious survey result that revealed that over 138,000 new hirings are expected in the said fiscal year. Ninety-seven percent of the surveyed CEOs also expected a “significantly better global economic growth in 2021.” Further, the latest Naukri JobSpeak report said India’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) hiring activity rose to 14% in June, so it looks like they’re on the right track!

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be an impediment to global outsourcing, however, the sector is continuously finding ways to overcome and fight against its adversities. In South Africa, several call centers and related agencies have partnered to boost the country’s vaccination efforts. BPO organizations such as the Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), CCI South Africa, and CareerBox have collaborated and taken the initiative to give call center support for the National Department of Health’s vaccine registration. CareerBox Managing Director Lizelle Strydom reported that the contact centers had answered over 30,000 inbound calls with an answer rate of 98.5% in its first 14 days.

Meanwhile, Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama announced that taking the COVID-19 vaccine will be compulsory in the country as he issued a “no jabs, no job” policy. According to Bainimarama, private sector employees must have their first dose of the vaccine by August 1. Individuals will face hefty fines and companies will be shut down if they fail to comply. This move is fully supported by Fiji’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Council. BPO Council Vice President Faiyaz Khan said the policy announcement is “very encouraging,” adding that the demand for the nation’s outsourcing industry is increasing, which makes achieving the targeted vaccination rate very important.

We have a lot of BPO company updates in store for you!

Australian owned BPO Probe Group, which was recently in the news for its acquisitions of Microsourcing and Stellar, is now itself for sale! American financial services firm Morgan Stanley has begun meetings to kick-off the auction for the sale of the company with a price expectation of $1.2bn. Probe is reportedly generating about $650 million in revenue and $100 million in earnings, and it employs over 15,000 professionals in six countries.

Inside Outsourcing previously covered Probe’s acquisition of Microsourcing here, and its Stellar acquisition here.

South African firm iContact BPO has entered a partnership with the Impact Sourcing Institute of South Africa to provide on-the-job training and work experience for disadvantaged youth. iContact CEO Clinton Cohen said this partnership can give SA’s youth “an incredible advantage in securing full-time employment within South Africa’s BPO sector, which is set to create 500,000 new jobs in the next 10 years according to BPESA.”

US-based outsourcing firm ParallelStaff is stepping up its services by boosting its nearshore outsourcing services. ParallelStaff CEO Mike Hernandez said that through “this innovative service,” their clients can get access to over 50,000 English-fluent software engineers. IT firm Epsilon, on the other hand, has said that it will stick to providing domestic outsourcing services. In a statement, the company announced that it will invest a total of $2.6 million to extend its operations in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The firm’s expansion is set to generate 145 new jobs in the country! Now, who said that outsourcing is taking away jobs?

Large corporations have been long-time lovers of outsourcing and shared services – and the love affair is not going away anytime soon! South Korea’s electronics giant LG Electronics is set to expand its cloud-based call center services to provide better customer care. In a statement, LG noted that their cloud-based call centers will be available in 10 more countries by the end of 2021. In addition, Google is reported to build its second data center in Latin America, as it has recently bought 30 hectares of land at a duty-free tax zone in Uruguay. A local publication also reported that the tech powerhouse will invest US$100 million in the country. Boom!

In other tenuously outsourcing-related news, top social platform TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is set to outsource the technology that is developed for the video-sharing app. This includes TikTok’s recommendation algorithms, real-time filters and effects, automated translations, and vision tech. ByteDance will license some of TikTok’s features to other companies to generate extra revenue – a move that will make them direct competitors with Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft. From a social media app to a competitor of the world’s most successful firms – watch this space!

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

NEWS THIS WEEK

12 July 2021

• Fiji’s BPO Council supports the “No Jab, No Job” policy – read article…
• India’s BPO hiring activity rose to 14% in June – read article…
• Connext promotes remote staffing solutions to businesses – read article…

9 July 2021

• Indian banking firm set to hire 500 engineers by year-end – read article…
• Cape Town, SA listed among the best cities for remote workers – read article…
• Royal Philips partners with Cognizant for digital health solutions – read article…

8 July 2021

• LG is scaling up its cloud-based call centers – read article…
• IT firm Epsilon will invest over $2 million in Greenville County, SC – read article…
• Indian IT industry plans an 11% recovery for 2021-2022 – read article…
• South African call center operations rise with the COVID-19 vaccine program – read article…

7 July 2021

• Morgan Stanley auctions BPO giant Probe Group – read article…
• Bangalore-based Trupp Global among the most promising BPOs of 2021 – read article…
• ParallelStaff opens IT nearshoring opportunities in Latin America – read article…
• iContact BPO partners with Impact Sourcing Institute to help disadvantaged youth – read article…

6 July 2021

• Intellinetics kick-starts its new BPO services – read article…
• Indian tech sector expects 1.38 lakh hirings in 2020-2021 – read article…
• Google to build a data center in newly-acquired land in Uruguay – read article…
• TikTok will now outsource its AI tech – read article…

Read more Inside Outsourcing Newsletters here:

1. The Outsourcing Week in Review: May 6, 2021
2. The Outsourcing Week in Review: June 17, 2021