The Outsourcing Week in Review: Wednesday, February 12, 2020

The United States once again became the world’s top outsourcing market last year, according to the Information Services Group, overtaking Germany to reclaim the top spot.  The same report ranked the Philippines third in outsourcing service delivery. Germany had moved ahead of the US in 2018 but then dropped to second place in 2019, with the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan following behind.  The same report ranked the Philippines third for outsourcing service delivery.

One US-headquartered outsourcing firm that has also enjoyed impressive growth figures last year is Genpact, which announced that its global client BPO revenues in 2019 grew 13% to US$2.64 billion, with its total BPO revenues for the year hitting US$2.97 billion, up 19% from a year earlier.

Not all US firms have fared so well. American telecoms and media firm AT&T said it is cutting an additional 200 US jobs in addition to the thousands of jobs that it has already outsourced to India and the Philippines. Dynata LLC, another US-headquartered company, is facing a lawsuit in the US over the fire in Davao City that killed 38 people, mostly BPO workers, in November 2017. The suit has been brought by relatives of the deceased and alleges that the company failed to take action to hire qualified personnel and the necessary and appropriate actions to provide a safe workplace for its workers, employed through SSI Philippines the local agent through which Dynata ran its operation in Davao.

Despite troubling economic headwinds and the uncertain threats of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Philippines’ IT and BPO sectors will continue to expand, especially in skilled services that cater to specialized clients, says economist Jette Gamboa, Metrobank’s head of strategic planning and investor relations. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has announced that the BPO sector will in future be placed in the new ICT subsector under the ‘Services’ sector used in the computation of the Philippines’ GDP.  The PSA also recently released a report based on a survey it conducted in 2017 that reveals that about 40% of companies in the ICT and Media Sectors do not have social media accounts. The results also show that of the 3,648 ICT and media companies polled, barely half of them even have websites.

Davao City’s mayor has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment for a partnership on the training of out-of-school youth to prepare them for employment in BPO companies under the Jobstart Philippines Flagship Program. There were also a number of senior appointments made in the BPO sector last week. US BPO firm Afni has appointed Khalid Khursheed as the new vice-president of its Philippines operations. Abidali Z Neemuchwala, CEO and managing director of Wipro, said he plans to step down soon. In a Philippines’ government shake-up, Eliseo Rio, the undersecretary for operations at the Department of Information and Communications Technology resigned, citing internal issues and the desire to spend more time with his family.

There were also some noteworthy developments on the international acquisition front. Telus International completed its acquisition of Competence Call Center, thus bringing another 8,500 employees across 11 European countries into its workforce. Another European deal saw Cognizant acquire EI-Technologies, a Paris-based digital technology consulting firm. Global customer care and technology firm 24-7 Intouch announced that it has acquired BPO firm Knoah Solutions for an undisclosed amount, signalling its entry into the Indian market. Irish entrepreneurs Dan and Linda Kiely, the co-founders of international BPO firm Voxpro, said they have invested EUR250,000 (US$275,000) in the co-working space provider, Republic of Work in their hometown of Cork in Ireland.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

NEWS THIS WEEK

10 February 2020

• Genpact Reports US$2.64bn in Global Client BPO Revenues – read article…
• Telus Completes Acquisition Of Competence Call Center – read article…
• Voxpro Founders Invest In Co-Working Firm – read article…

07 February 2020

• 24-7 Intouch acquires BPO firm Knoah Solutions – read article…
• Davao training out-of-school youth for BPO jobs – read article…
• Cognizant acquires digital tech consulting firm EI-Technologies – read article…

06 February 2020

• IT-BPO Sector To See Expansion In Skilled Services Offering – read article…
• US Firm Faces Charges Over Deadly Davao Fire – read article…
• AT&T Cutting 200 More Jobs – read article…

05 February 2020

• Afni Names Khalid Khursheed As Philippines VP – read article…
• Wipro CEO Abidali Z Neemuchwala Stepping Down – read article…
• DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Resigns – read article…

04 February 2020

• US Reclaims Top Spot As World’s Top Outsourcing Market In 2019 – read article…
• BPO Placed Under ICT Subsector In New GDP Computation – read article…
• 40% Of ICT Firms Lack Social Media Presence – read article…

Read more Inside Outsourcing Newsletters here:

1. The Outsourcing Week in Review: February 5, 2020
2. The Outsourcing Week in Review: February 26, 2020