Offshoring and outsourcing in services from call centres to accountancy and medicine have created good jobs in terms of pay and working hours in
developing countries, according to a study published on Monday.
But the International Labour Organization (ILO) study found that improved work practices in the outsourcing industry could reduce excessive rates of staff turnover.
The study gives the lie to claims that outsourcing of such work has created "cyber-coolies" or "electronic sweatshops", said Jon Messenger, an ILO researcher and main editor of the study.
"The jobs being created in offshore business services in developing countries are reasonably good quality jobs by local standards in terms of wages and working conditions," he said.
The book looks at outsourcing in the two biggest markets, India and the Philippines, and two growing Latin American centres, Brazil and Argentina.
A study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) last year found the global market for information technology-enabled services was about $54 billion in 2008. The industry includes companies such as Infosys Technologies(INFY.BO) and Wipro(WIPR.BO).
100 PC TURNOVER
Wages are below those for similar jobs in rich countries -- one of the main motives for companies to outsource operations -- but average pay in the sector in India is nearly double that in other areas of the formal economy, the ILO study found.
In the Philippines they were typically 53 percent higher.
The study found that average weekly hours were 46-47 hours in India and 45 in the Philippines, whereas one fifth of workers in developing countries work more than 50 hours a week.
But negative factors such as frequent night work to handle customers' different time zones, and demanding targets enforced by electronic monitoring resulting in a low level of worker autonomy, led to extremely high levels of staff turnover.
Sometimes the turnover rate in the typically young and well-educated workforce could exceed 100 percent a year, and rates of 30-40 percent are not unusual.
"A few key changes in policies and practices could actually make these good jobs even better while simultaneously helping to reduce staff turnover which would benefit businesses," Messenger told a briefing.
These could include steps to improve health and safety for night workers, such as regular check-ups, and more flexibility for workers to organise their time and to meet targets.
Naj Ghosheh, an ILO researcher and the other editor of the book, said governments would want the industries to develop and innovate to move up the value chain rather than simply replicating imported processes. They would also want to retain skilled workers at home rather than encouraging them to emigrate.
The industry is highly influenced by language skills, with India and the Philippines serving English-speaking countries, Argentina serving Spain and Mexico building up operations to serve Spanish-speakers in the United States.
Africa is relatively underdeveloped although Nigeria's computer-literate population gives it potential.
Source: Economic Times
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6160968.cms?overrideredirect=true
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Desi BPO on UK co’s radar
UK-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company Vertex is scouting for takeover opportunities in India and has reportedly zeroed in on Spanco BPO — a 6,500-strong outfit.
With revenues of around Rs 75 crore, Spanco’s BPO division has three broad arms — one catering to the domestic market, the second, Spanco Respondez, catering to the UK market and the third, GKS, servicing Qatar-based banking clients. The deal size is said to be in the region of Rs 175 crore.
Spanco BPO’s biggest clients are Reliance Telecom, Videocon Mobile, Citi Financials and Kotak Mahindra.
Though both companies categorically denied that such a deal is on, sources close to the development say that a due diligence has already been done. If the deal goes through, Vertex would get a toehold in the Indian BPO market.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech/News/Outsourcing/Desi-BPO-on-UK-cos-radar-/articleshow/6158555.cms
With revenues of around Rs 75 crore, Spanco’s BPO division has three broad arms — one catering to the domestic market, the second, Spanco Respondez, catering to the UK market and the third, GKS, servicing Qatar-based banking clients. The deal size is said to be in the region of Rs 175 crore.
Spanco BPO’s biggest clients are Reliance Telecom, Videocon Mobile, Citi Financials and Kotak Mahindra.
Though both companies categorically denied that such a deal is on, sources close to the development say that a due diligence has already been done. If the deal goes through, Vertex would get a toehold in the Indian BPO market.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech/News/Outsourcing/Desi-BPO-on-UK-cos-radar-/articleshow/6158555.cms
Accenture plans to expand in Cebu
CEBU, Philippines - Accenture, a total solutions outsourcing company, expressed interest to expand its operations in Cebu.
Lito Tayag, country managing director of Accenture Delivery Centers in the Philippines said in an interview that the company intends to grow in Cebu, and is now evaluating options on its expansion location.
Accenture-Cebu opened its Global Delivery Center Network for Technology in 2007, and also it opened its BPO arm or call center operations here about two years ago.
Tayag said the company is looking at expanding IT and BPO components here, expressing confidence of the kind of manpower Cebu has.
“Cebu is an attractive place for investment. It has big potential for growth,” Tayag said.
He said the reason why, the company has established a partnership with French NGO to help provide good and highly-skilled manpower pool in Cebu, through scholarship grant.
Accenture Foundations recently awarded Passerelles Numeriques (PN) US$1.26 million or over P58 million funds for the latter‘s Cebu System and Network Administration training initiatives.
The grant, which will be distributed over a four-year period, will be used to help disadvantaged young people from all over the Visayas acquire IT skills.
The Philippines is the second largest hub of the Accenture global operation, next to India, with over 14,000 employees based in its Metro Manila facility. Making India and the Philippines the Accenture's growth engines in the recent years.
Although, the company is also providing service in data and voice like the call center, the company's core business is into providing services of wide range technology application, offering a almost a total outsourcing products to its clients.
Tayag however, refused to divulge the possible number of workforce, the company will be hiring in Cebu expansion in the next few years.
What is certain, he said is the expansion plan for Cebu facility is part of Accenture’s growth strategy.
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 190 thousand people serving clients in more than 120 countries.
Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities, across all industries and business functions and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.
Philstar.com
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=592590&publicationSubCategoryId=108
Lito Tayag, country managing director of Accenture Delivery Centers in the Philippines said in an interview that the company intends to grow in Cebu, and is now evaluating options on its expansion location.
Accenture-Cebu opened its Global Delivery Center Network for Technology in 2007, and also it opened its BPO arm or call center operations here about two years ago.
Tayag said the company is looking at expanding IT and BPO components here, expressing confidence of the kind of manpower Cebu has.
“Cebu is an attractive place for investment. It has big potential for growth,” Tayag said.
He said the reason why, the company has established a partnership with French NGO to help provide good and highly-skilled manpower pool in Cebu, through scholarship grant.
Accenture Foundations recently awarded Passerelles Numeriques (PN) US$1.26 million or over P58 million funds for the latter‘s Cebu System and Network Administration training initiatives.
The grant, which will be distributed over a four-year period, will be used to help disadvantaged young people from all over the Visayas acquire IT skills.
The Philippines is the second largest hub of the Accenture global operation, next to India, with over 14,000 employees based in its Metro Manila facility. Making India and the Philippines the Accenture's growth engines in the recent years.
Although, the company is also providing service in data and voice like the call center, the company's core business is into providing services of wide range technology application, offering a almost a total outsourcing products to its clients.
Tayag however, refused to divulge the possible number of workforce, the company will be hiring in Cebu expansion in the next few years.
What is certain, he said is the expansion plan for Cebu facility is part of Accenture’s growth strategy.
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 190 thousand people serving clients in more than 120 countries.
Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities, across all industries and business functions and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.
Philstar.com
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=592590&publicationSubCategoryId=108
Offshore Outsourcing Picking up After Recession: Everest
The outsourcing market is witnessing an increase in activity as the global economy recovers from the recession of 2009, according to a report by Everest Research Institute.
Offshore outsourcing business that was in the pipeline, but was delayed during the recession for financial reasons or for lack of management focus, is now gathering momentum again, Anand Ramesh [CQ}, research director at Everest, said on Saturday.
More concerned about cost reduction after the recession, customers in the U.S. and other markets are planning to offshore more of the work that was earlier being outsourced to suppliers in their countries, Ramesh said.
Companies that have not sent work offshore so far are also now considering outsourcing to low-cost locations like India and the Philippines, he added. Over a period, the credibility and scale of offshore suppliers in countries like India has also increased, Ramesh said.
Most current buyers plan to expand offshoring and a significant proportion plan to do so aggressively, the Everest report said. Approximately 75 percent of small and medium adopters and 90 percent of large adopters plan to expand their offshore outsourcing by more than 500 FTEs (full time equivalents) over the next two years, it added.
Small adopters are defined by Everest as organizations with already less than 500 FTEs offshore, while medium adopters are organizations with 500 to 2,500 FTEs offshore. Large adopters are organizations that already have more than 2,500 FTEs offshore.
The report surveyed companies that currently send IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) work to either their own subsidiaries or to third-party suppliers in off-shore locations like India, Mexico, China and the Philippines.
A number of analysts have forecast a pick up in offshore business. A lot of the offshore business that was delayed by the recession is back, said Sudin Apte [CQ], principal analyst at Forrester Research. But there are no large new deals yet, he said.
The improvement in business is also likely to place demands for staff in countries like India, thus pushing up costs. Companies in India, for example, have started hiring again, and staff attrition is likely to go up to over 15 percent in the current quarter, Apte said.
India continues to be the dominant offshore location with more than 70 percent of buyers planning to expand in the country, according to Everest. The Philippines, riding mainly on its strong presence in the BPO business, and China are two other key countries where companies plan to expand.
But the offshore market in China is primarily for work done for neighboring countries like South Korea, and Japan, according to Ramesh. The number of U.S. companies outsourcing to China are few, and the size of their operations are small, he added.
Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico are other locations that figure in companies' plans to expand offshore outsourcing.
Companies are however looking to spread their risks, and may not send all their work to India.
Buyers are increasingly looking at other complementary locations in Asia, Latin and Central America, and Eastern Europe for setting up delivery centers, according to Everest. The drivers of this approach include risk diversification and business continuity, need for specific skills and support in specific languages, regulatory requirements, and time zone coverage requirements, Everest said.
About 60 percent of India's outsourcing business comes from the U.S., followed by the U.K. which accounts for about 15 percent.
Even as companies are planning to expand offshore outsourcing, they are also looking at expanding in near-shore locations, such as Latin America for U.S. companies. The drivers for near-shore outsourcing, such as the need to keep sensitive work closer to home, are different than for off-shore outsourcing which is mainly driven by cost and the ability to scale, Ramesh said. Although it is growing fast, near-shore outsourcing is a smaller market than offshore outsourcing, and will not necessarily compete with the offshore locations for business, he added.
Even as companies expand near-shore and to other locations besides India, they may still turn to Indian service providers to provide services from these new locations, Ramesh said. They may value an existing relationship with an service provider rather than assign the business to a local provider, he added. A number of Indian outsourcers have set up operations in Europe, U.S. and Latin America to target the near-shore and onshore requirements of their customers.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/200888/offshore_outsourcing_picking_up_after_recession_everest.html
Offshore outsourcing business that was in the pipeline, but was delayed during the recession for financial reasons or for lack of management focus, is now gathering momentum again, Anand Ramesh [CQ}, research director at Everest, said on Saturday.
More concerned about cost reduction after the recession, customers in the U.S. and other markets are planning to offshore more of the work that was earlier being outsourced to suppliers in their countries, Ramesh said.
Companies that have not sent work offshore so far are also now considering outsourcing to low-cost locations like India and the Philippines, he added. Over a period, the credibility and scale of offshore suppliers in countries like India has also increased, Ramesh said.
Most current buyers plan to expand offshoring and a significant proportion plan to do so aggressively, the Everest report said. Approximately 75 percent of small and medium adopters and 90 percent of large adopters plan to expand their offshore outsourcing by more than 500 FTEs (full time equivalents) over the next two years, it added.
Small adopters are defined by Everest as organizations with already less than 500 FTEs offshore, while medium adopters are organizations with 500 to 2,500 FTEs offshore. Large adopters are organizations that already have more than 2,500 FTEs offshore.
The report surveyed companies that currently send IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) work to either their own subsidiaries or to third-party suppliers in off-shore locations like India, Mexico, China and the Philippines.
A number of analysts have forecast a pick up in offshore business. A lot of the offshore business that was delayed by the recession is back, said Sudin Apte [CQ], principal analyst at Forrester Research. But there are no large new deals yet, he said.
The improvement in business is also likely to place demands for staff in countries like India, thus pushing up costs. Companies in India, for example, have started hiring again, and staff attrition is likely to go up to over 15 percent in the current quarter, Apte said.
India continues to be the dominant offshore location with more than 70 percent of buyers planning to expand in the country, according to Everest. The Philippines, riding mainly on its strong presence in the BPO business, and China are two other key countries where companies plan to expand.
But the offshore market in China is primarily for work done for neighboring countries like South Korea, and Japan, according to Ramesh. The number of U.S. companies outsourcing to China are few, and the size of their operations are small, he added.
Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico are other locations that figure in companies' plans to expand offshore outsourcing.
Companies are however looking to spread their risks, and may not send all their work to India.
Buyers are increasingly looking at other complementary locations in Asia, Latin and Central America, and Eastern Europe for setting up delivery centers, according to Everest. The drivers of this approach include risk diversification and business continuity, need for specific skills and support in specific languages, regulatory requirements, and time zone coverage requirements, Everest said.
About 60 percent of India's outsourcing business comes from the U.S., followed by the U.K. which accounts for about 15 percent.
Even as companies are planning to expand offshore outsourcing, they are also looking at expanding in near-shore locations, such as Latin America for U.S. companies. The drivers for near-shore outsourcing, such as the need to keep sensitive work closer to home, are different than for off-shore outsourcing which is mainly driven by cost and the ability to scale, Ramesh said. Although it is growing fast, near-shore outsourcing is a smaller market than offshore outsourcing, and will not necessarily compete with the offshore locations for business, he added.
Even as companies expand near-shore and to other locations besides India, they may still turn to Indian service providers to provide services from these new locations, Ramesh said. They may value an existing relationship with an service provider rather than assign the business to a local provider, he added. A number of Indian outsourcers have set up operations in Europe, U.S. and Latin America to target the near-shore and onshore requirements of their customers.
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/200888/offshore_outsourcing_picking_up_after_recession_everest.html
Outsourcing Philippines: The Right Causes to Be Engaged
The current global financial predicament motivated quite a few firms to stand back and look at their processes. Though this wouldn't immediately influence them to outsource to the Philippines and other nations around the world, it did show them the necessity to spend less money by dropping the business units that were very important to them but weren't crucial to the key thrust of their enterprise.
This particular phenomenon isn't something different. Outsourcing has long been successful since the late 80s and early 90s, with the term being created in 1989 to explain the tactic itself. However, the process was currently being undertaken by a number of organizations without any experience in a definite facet of business. There were a lot of arguments to outsource, but the most crucial amid them was the necessity to save funds. By way of example, call center outsourcing took place due to the high costs of sustaining a proper customer service division within a specific corporation. During the period of the 2000s, various organizations decided to outsource to the Philippines for their customer care needs. It conserved cash and additional means, enabling them to focus on the main parts of their business.
Precisely how do these businesses conserve cash? The quick answer to this question is that they do not need to shell out money on a division, which really needs supplies, manpower, and establishments in which to run. Rather than investing an enormous amount , quite a few companies try an outsourcing company. The Philippines is a prime niche for this, for numerous factors. The income for the labor force here is substantially reduced than the expenditures for related jobs in the United States รข€”only 12 to 16 percent that of American jobs. With a monetary viewpoint, the selection to outsource to the Philippines would make great business sense.
Outsourcing firms save funds in an additional means: lower operational costs. Due to the lower rental prices in the land, organizations in the Philippines conserve cash on features and servicing. Electric and telephone bills are also comparatively lower, permitting the organization to zero in its finances on developing their core expertise.
Nonetheless, money is not the only rationale that every company ought to outsource to the Philippines. You will find many proficient personnel in the Philippines, and many of them are college or university-educated. Close to 500,000 people graduate on a yearly basis, with 50 % of them acquiring business, engineering, or information technology qualifications. Companies needing particular abilities can utilize this talent pool.
That extremely qualified employed pool is bolstered by the truth that a large majority of them speak excellent English. Given that the land was a colony of the United States for much of the first half of the 20th century, the English language became prominent in business and education and learning in the nation. In addition to the lower labor fee, this is a primary rationale why BPO outsourcing, SEO outsourcing, and call center outsourcing are growing sectors. The companies that outsource to the Philippines understand this too, and they adjust their business designs as a result. This English-speaking capacity is specially critical for the call center outsourcing area, which calls for superior conversation competencies.
Source : http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/
Link : http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/Art/401024/24/outsourcing-philippines-the-right-causes-to-be-engaged.html
Within the Philippines, outsourcing is an evergrowing business industry. Corporations understand the various benefits that the country provides in relation to smaller salaries and far more skilled employees. That's an offer that several business leaders find remarkable, which is why some choose to outsource to the Philippines. The selection of outsourcing companies online makes this approach less difficult, and any businessperson can obtain them on the internet to get the best offer.
This particular phenomenon isn't something different. Outsourcing has long been successful since the late 80s and early 90s, with the term being created in 1989 to explain the tactic itself. However, the process was currently being undertaken by a number of organizations without any experience in a definite facet of business. There were a lot of arguments to outsource, but the most crucial amid them was the necessity to save funds. By way of example, call center outsourcing took place due to the high costs of sustaining a proper customer service division within a specific corporation. During the period of the 2000s, various organizations decided to outsource to the Philippines for their customer care needs. It conserved cash and additional means, enabling them to focus on the main parts of their business.
Precisely how do these businesses conserve cash? The quick answer to this question is that they do not need to shell out money on a division, which really needs supplies, manpower, and establishments in which to run. Rather than investing an enormous amount , quite a few companies try an outsourcing company. The Philippines is a prime niche for this, for numerous factors. The income for the labor force here is substantially reduced than the expenditures for related jobs in the United States รข€”only 12 to 16 percent that of American jobs. With a monetary viewpoint, the selection to outsource to the Philippines would make great business sense.
Outsourcing firms save funds in an additional means: lower operational costs. Due to the lower rental prices in the land, organizations in the Philippines conserve cash on features and servicing. Electric and telephone bills are also comparatively lower, permitting the organization to zero in its finances on developing their core expertise.
Nonetheless, money is not the only rationale that every company ought to outsource to the Philippines. You will find many proficient personnel in the Philippines, and many of them are college or university-educated. Close to 500,000 people graduate on a yearly basis, with 50 % of them acquiring business, engineering, or information technology qualifications. Companies needing particular abilities can utilize this talent pool.
That extremely qualified employed pool is bolstered by the truth that a large majority of them speak excellent English. Given that the land was a colony of the United States for much of the first half of the 20th century, the English language became prominent in business and education and learning in the nation. In addition to the lower labor fee, this is a primary rationale why BPO outsourcing, SEO outsourcing, and call center outsourcing are growing sectors. The companies that outsource to the Philippines understand this too, and they adjust their business designs as a result. This English-speaking capacity is specially critical for the call center outsourcing area, which calls for superior conversation competencies.
Source : http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/
Link : http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/Art/401024/24/outsourcing-philippines-the-right-causes-to-be-engaged.html
Within the Philippines, outsourcing is an evergrowing business industry. Corporations understand the various benefits that the country provides in relation to smaller salaries and far more skilled employees. That's an offer that several business leaders find remarkable, which is why some choose to outsource to the Philippines. The selection of outsourcing companies online makes this approach less difficult, and any businessperson can obtain them on the internet to get the best offer.
Drishti powers voice BPO initiative for Rural Shores
Drishti-Soft Solutions becomes technology partners to Rural Shores, Bangalore. The latter is a Rural BPO firm that aims to promote rural-shoring of BPO operations by setting up business process outsourcing units and business centers across smaller towns and villages in India. Drishti’s multi-award winning customer interaction management suite - Ameyo becomes the preferred technology by Rural Shores for building voice capability into their highly successful BPO operations.
As the whopping 15 billion USD Indian BPO industry steps ahead, it is challenged by tough competition from rivals such as Philippines. With the BPO firms losing some two-thirds of their incremental voice based business to the south-east Asian countries, there is a dire need to create another delivery layer and bring down the costs of operations for a better value proposition.
The current BPO scene has 60% of the 'skill factory' coming from Tier 1 and 2 regions. Taking a closer look at the industry stats, the picture says that the Indian BPO industry is slated to rise to 220-280 Billion USD by 2012 generating around 2 million direct jobs. This creates enough room for the rural regions to tap their share of contribution to the BPO 'skill factory' and creates substantial opportunity for firms like Rural Shores.
Source: Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/drishti-powers-voice-bpo-initiative-for-rural-shores/642908/
As the whopping 15 billion USD Indian BPO industry steps ahead, it is challenged by tough competition from rivals such as Philippines. With the BPO firms losing some two-thirds of their incremental voice based business to the south-east Asian countries, there is a dire need to create another delivery layer and bring down the costs of operations for a better value proposition.
The current BPO scene has 60% of the 'skill factory' coming from Tier 1 and 2 regions. Taking a closer look at the industry stats, the picture says that the Indian BPO industry is slated to rise to 220-280 Billion USD by 2012 generating around 2 million direct jobs. This creates enough room for the rural regions to tap their share of contribution to the BPO 'skill factory' and creates substantial opportunity for firms like Rural Shores.
Source: Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/drishti-powers-voice-bpo-initiative-for-rural-shores/642908/
Saturday, July 10, 2010
PwC to set up new KPO in Kolkata
Pricewaterhouse Cooper in India, Australia, Canada, UK and USA today announced formation of a new entity to conduct select back-office operation of their activities in Kolkata.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Service Delivery Centre (Kolkata) is a joint venture formed by the PwC set-ups of these countries which has begun operation since July 1, PwC India director Ambarish Dasgupta said here today.
The delivery centre currently employs 600 professionals and the proposals are to increase the employee strength to 2000 by the end of 2012, if everything runs smooth, the JV CEO Sumanth Prakash said.
Mukherjee said the centre will execute analytical work in finance, common in all these countries.
Source: express india
Full article: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/PwC-to-set-up-new-KPO-in-Kolkata/644369/
PricewaterhouseCoopers Service Delivery Centre (Kolkata) is a joint venture formed by the PwC set-ups of these countries which has begun operation since July 1, PwC India director Ambarish Dasgupta said here today.
The delivery centre currently employs 600 professionals and the proposals are to increase the employee strength to 2000 by the end of 2012, if everything runs smooth, the JV CEO Sumanth Prakash said.
Mukherjee said the centre will execute analytical work in finance, common in all these countries.
Source: express india
Full article: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/PwC-to-set-up-new-KPO-in-Kolkata/644369/
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