The sunshine industry in the Philippines could experience a significant slowdown in the coming years. Industry experts, such as Kital.com.ph, notes that this will eventually highlight the importance of more reliable technology solutions, upgraded skill and talent, and top-notch customer service.
A decline in BPO Growth Rate
The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry generates over a trillion pesos in revenue annually. This makes it one of the country’s sunshine sectors as it plays a major role in its economy. For the past years, the cumulative growth rate was over 13%.
Until 2022, however, it could decline to 9%, which is an indication of a slowdown. By the end of the forecast period, the revenue will just be more than 2 trillion pesos.
There are many factors that could stunt its growth. One of these is the security instability in the country. Consultants cited this as a reason for the decrease in leased office spaces. It went from 65% in 2016 to 41% in 2017.
However, most of the possible explanations are outside the local industry’s control — such as the global slowdown of the industry. In India, for example, its workforce could shrink by almost 15% in 2021.
Automation is also becoming a major threat. Many businesses are now exploring the use of chatbots or call center software programs to manage customer service.
Room for Improvement
Despite the challenges, industry experts remain upbeat. They are positive it will still have a substantial role in the country’s growth. However, it requires some key changes.
One of these is stronger investments in the telecommunications solutions for business. So far, many have already been training their workforce on multichannel operations.
It means they can easily shift to various communication options such as email, call, or chat. Some businesses are also growing their knowledge processing outsourcing (KPO) services to bring in more revenues.
A growing number of call center academies are training would-be employees to close the gap in labor shortage and increase the chances of a successful job match.