IN terms of revenues, the country’s contact-center industry has been growing by 18 percent this year and is expected to hit its forecast full-year growth of 15 percent to 20 percent, with 406,000 full-time employees.
“We have decided to keep our targets based on current figures,” Jojo Uligan, executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), said.
In 2010 CCAP figures showed that Philippine call centers, now more appropriately termed contact centers, raked in $6.2 billion in revenues or 24 percent of the global total. The industry also ended the year with 344,000 full-time employees and a seat capacity of 278,000.
In the last five years the industry recorded a compounded annual growth rate of 21 percent.
In 2006 contact centers in the country only had revenues of $2.6 billion and 160,000 full-time employees. In 2010 the Philippines exceeded the estimated revenue of India at $5.6 billion to $5.9 billion, as reported by Everest.
“We can attribute our phenomenal growth to the quality of service our world-class professionals consistently deliver. We can also point to the growth strategies our industry has undertaken to expand to new geographical markets and verticals, as well as extend our capabilities in language support and higher value skills,” CCAP President Benedict Hernandez said.
From 2011 to 2016 Hernandez said the industry is targeting a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent to reach $14.7 billion in revenues and full-time employee count of about 816,000 by 2016.
To achieve these targets, Hernandez said CCAP has set these programs:
· Sustain the supply of qualified personnel and elevate their skill proficiencies via the establishment of a Global Competitiveness Institute.
· Improve employee welfare and retention via the establishment of a Human Resource Council, and continuing research and intervention.
· Strengthen the industry and CCAP brand through an integrated media, PR and branding program.
· Improve the business environment for call centers via PPP program development.
· Consolidate all these efforts via the establishment of a full-time CCAP executive team.
On the other hand, the challenges are: ensuring the long-term sustainability of a qualified labor pool supply, particularly for front-line and management talent; talent retention, guaranteeing continuing government support for the industry, particularly in providing a consistent, favorable regulatory and incentive environment, and cost concerns, particularly on labor inflation, infrastructure and utilities, and foreign-exchange stability.
