Call centers are now a staple in any busy district in the Philippines. There are so much business centers that just cater to different BPO firms and it seems very much that they are here to stay.
The Philippines has BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry as one of its fastest growing industries. It’s taken over the country as it provides a plethora of jobs to Filipinos. At the same time, it is able to push for better economic activity and investments. The Philippines is also being urged to transform digitally so it can only grow from here.
Manila actually stands as 2nd in the biggest outsourcing city in the world only after Bangalore in India. There is constant growth and the future looks bright and promising. If you’re looking into outsourcing, here’s some benefits you can gain by choosing the Philippines:
1 / English is an Official Language
Filipinos have strong English proficiency making it easier for them provide support from verbal to written. Most also have a neutral accent that works well for verbal communication. This makes it easy for customers to understand what they are saying. It’s also easy within the company to have meetings and give instructions.
Thing are able to flow a lot more seamlessly and save more time when you can all understand a single language.
2 / Education as a Priority
The tasks given in BPO are not the easiest and need quite a bit of skills. You also don’t want to notice a huge margin in the quality of work given by the in-house and outsourced teams. The Philippines actually has a 95% literacy rate which makes its workers skilled and more reliable.
More than 400,000 Filipinos graduate every year from higher education institutes. Because of scholarships and discounted tuition rates, low-income students are also given the opportunity to study. This is also able to boost attendance for working students and other socioeconomic demographics.
Majority of the classes are also taught in English. Some schools even go further and teach basic BPO training to prepare the students. There are also many options for older workers who want to choose this as a career change.
3 / Abundance of the Youth
In the Philippines, the average age of the population is 23 which means the majority comes from an age that has grown with technology. This majority in the population has more access to BPO training in their programs and education. Since they grew up in the time where BPO is flourishing, they are raised with more tools to succeed.
They also know that the opportunity in BPO is high so many choose this as a great employment option. Being young, they are also more open to change in the market. They can multitask and are flexible in the tasks given to them. This is why Digital Marketing in the Philippines is also growing steadily so it’s easier to access them for opportunities.
4 / Foreign Influence
Having a rich history and being taken over by many countries, it has a combination of Asian and Western influences. With English as its official language, most people are able to understand and are fans of Western media.
With Japanese, Spanish and U.S.A. colonizing the country at one point in history, it’s a melting pot of different interests and cultures. While this isn’t a major factor in your BPO, it does create a better relationship with your employees. You are able to understand each other’s interests better and have more points for conversation. They are able to capture digital trends quickly as well with the growth of blockchain and AI.
This makes it a better work experience both for you and your employees. Within EOI Digital’s own CSR, we do our best to aid Filipinos and collaborate within our existing working culture to create an environment that is productive but fun at the same time.
5 / Data Privacy Act
When you outsource your operations, this can involve a lot of sensitive data. This brings companies to avoid using overseas outsourcing for their safety. However, the Data Privacy Act of 2012 now bring the local policies in line with international security standards.
Personal information are now protected by strict regulations to keep this date from unauthorized usage and access. This means that more outsourcing opportunities can still be opened up. Healthcare is a good industry that is viable in outsourcing more.
6 / Support the economy
When BPO wasn’t prominent in the country, most skilled workers were forced to leave the country for better jobs. They aren’t able to see opportunities that would earn them enough to provide. This left them no choice but to leave family to earn. Most people had contracts not allowing them to leave for at least a year. The economy was dependent of foreign remittances than the local industry.
Currently, the BPO industry is providing 1.2 million jobs and this is growing by the minute. More people are able to stay in their home and care for their loved ones. The quality of life has improved so much. Small businesses are able to succeed more with more people deciding to stay.
There are so many benefits to outsourcing. You are able to save a lot of money as overhead costs are immensely lowered in the process of hiring remote staff. You are also able to devote more time on management marketing. This is because you can outsource all those technical nitty gritty support tasks that are time consuming to do. Aside from this, you can also hire specialists who can be more of an extension of your on-site team.
The Philippines has so much potential for outsourcing because of they are the 3rd largest English speaking country in the world. This means that communication has minimum to zero barriers which is a major part in any business. There are thousands of graduates every year from courses like I.T., technology and marketing. There’s a huge pool of talent just waiting to be utilized. And lastly, the Philippines is known to be very hospitable.