Supply of qualified talents can’t keep pace with demand of BPOs

The local business process outsourcing (BPO) industry continues to grow rapidly, but the supply of English-proficient, computer literate and service-oriented workforce cannot keep pace with its demand for talents. But BPO companies are working on ways to shore up the talent pool for the industry by asking the government to set aside P500 million within the next five years. The industry is projected to grow 25% every year from 2012 to 2016 with total revenues estimated to reach $25 billion by 2016. Last year, its revenues totaled $9 billion. “With this annual growth, the industry would need to hire 127,000 to 269,000 people every year to meet the employment target of 1.3 million by 2016," said Penny Bongato, executive director for talent development of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP). “We are growing faster than the global BPO market, which expands by only 10% to 15% yearly. The growth of the local industry can be accelerated through a very strong government-private sector partnership," she told GMA News Online. However, she said right now, BPAP and the government are only discussing partnership for the rest of 2011 until 2012. “Depending of the success of the different programs, this might change." The BPAP is the industry’s umbrella organization composed of more than 250 BPO and information technology companies. Government support Bongato said the P500 million is the government’s counterpart fund which will be used to speed up the hiring and training of talents. “We are requesting some funds from the government to support TESDA’s Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) and other programs." She said the private sector will add P160 million to support the program, on top of its contribution of P680 million a year to the training of their work force since the start of the industry in the mid-1990s. Last month, TESDA agreed with BPO companies on a P20-million funding for the TWSP which will train this year 2,200 scholars in contact center services, software development, animation and medical transcription. The success of TWSP is based on the number of new hires of BPOs which should at least be 70% of the total graduates. Bongato said last year, BPO companies hired 2,000 persons trained by TESDA, which comprised 78% of the total graduates. For every successful hiring of a TESDA graduate, a BPO reimburses at least 10 percent of the cost of the scholarship which will go to the Talent Development Fund, a revolving fund that will be used for the training of new scholars. Bongato said the industry also developed the global competitiveness assessment tool which standardizes the requirements for new entrants. It is an online test that is taken for two and half hours and assesses learning ability, English proficiency, computer literacy, perceptual speed and accuracy, and service orientation. The industry has also proposed the inclusion of a service management specialization track as a minor in some college courses. It has five subjects of 3 units each on business communication, service culture, systems thinking and fundamentals of BPO 1 and 2. This is waiting approval from the Commission on Higher Education. It also has the service technology management program which aims to develop supervisors and managers for the industry. Not enough are qualified BPO companies admit that there is not enough qualified talents and recognize the need to train more talents for the industry. Marife Zamora, Convergys senior vice president and managing director for Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the company hires only 8 to 10 agents out of 100 applicants. But she said Convergys still attracts high quality applicants despite strong competition and stricter hiring standards. “This is because of our strong reputation in the industry. We’re the country’s largest private employer today," she told GMA News Online. Convergys has 26,000 agents in 15 contact centers handling 30 clients compared to only 800 handling only two clients when it started operations in 2003. It has eight centers in Metro Manila, four in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City, one in Sta. Rosa, Laguna and one in Baguio City. Zamora said Convergys still seeks candidates with strong English-language and computer skills, as well as a customer service orientation. “However, clients are now demanding even more comprehensive metrics on customer experience." She said as a result, the company now looks for conversational capabilities, active listening, comprehension and empathy skills and learning agility. Convergys and the Department of Education (DepEd) have been providing English language communication skills training for public high school teachers across the country for six years. They have trained over 1,000 teachers. “The DepEd selects the teachers while Convergys provides the training. The teachers are then expected to go back to their schools and train their fellow teachers," Zamora said. On the other hand, 24/7 Customer Philippines, Inc., a medium-sized BPO, hires 25 out of 100 applicants which is higher than the industry’s 12 to 15 hires out of 100. Me-ann Batallones, the company’s director for career and brand management group told GMA News Online,“We've always had higher hit rates because our recruitment process allows for screening and weeding out of the undesirables at the onset." “We recruit our people based on the profiles needed by our clients, which are US, UK and Australian telecom companies," she added. She said the company has 3,500 agents in four centers in the Philippines where it opened in 2006. It started its operations 11 years ago in India, where it has sites in Bangalore and Hyderabad. It also has a site in Guatemala. “Not enough are willing to be customer service representatives, not enough are truly aware of what this industry can bring from a career perspective," she said. Career path Batallones said many who have made careers in the BPO industry are now enjoying meaningful achievement and financial stability. “You don’t stop from being a call center agent. You could be a team leader or a supervisor in a year’s time, or even a manager." “There are career tracks within a BPO company. You could be in marketing, human resources and training depending on your education, skills and interests," she said. Although the industry still lures many because of a high starting pay of P13,000 to P15,000 a month for an agent, still some have considered it a career. “I myself have been in the industry for more than 15 years. My company allows me to have a work-life balance so I can have time for work, as well as for family and friends," said Batallones. Both Convergys and 24/7 Customer Philippines provide voice-based services such as customer service and technical support to clients from English-speaking countries like the US, UK and Australia. But they see increasing demand for back office services such as email, chat and document processing. - OMG, GMA News Online