Industry News: Is AI A Threat In The Philippine BPO Sector? Tax Incentive Retention For BPOs, and CX As Focus of Global Contact Centers
October 5, 2017
Industry News: PH As ‘Services Powerhouse’, Startups Open Opportunities For Local Grads And BPO Employees, and Slow Internet Remains A Challenge In PH
November 16, 2017
SHDA studies possibilities of socialized housing program for BPO workers
The Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) examines the possibilities of providing socialized housing program for business process outsourcing (BPO) employees.
A key challenge that the association sees for the said program, according to SHDA board member Sol Lagmay, is the lack of permanent work and security in the BPO industry, highlighting that call center agents are one of the markets they are looking into.
Lagmay said that although call center agents and BPO employees are financially capable, “the nature of their work, which jump from one company to another, and one BPO job to another” is a risk to the housing sector.
Because majority of BPO employees are young professionals, they are investing more into travelling and gadgets than getting their own housing units.
“We would also want to take care of this sector because they are big contributory in the economy. It seemed like they have been taken for granted when it comes to housing programs,” the board member said.
She also added that they are also looking into offering these types of employees rent-to-own units that they can continue paying even they are working from afar. – via SunStar Davao and Business Mirror
Senate retains BPO tax incentives
Senator Sonny Angara said that the senate panel did not touch the tax incentives of information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) in crafting Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) “to continue attracting more BPO investments that would spur economic growth and create more jobs for Filipinos.”
As the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Angara said that BPO investments started to bounce back after the Senate retained the incentives.
The senator added that IT-BPM industry has been one of the biggest job generators of the country during the past few years and vowed to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
The IT-Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) expressed their gratitude to the Senate for supporting the IT-BPM industry. The group also declared that the investment pledges in the country are already showing “signs of recovery” because of the Senate’s move.
Last year, the said industry employed about 1.15 million Filipinos and generated $23 billion in revenue. – via Philippine Star
Iloilo remains center for BPO expansion
Despite the slowdown in Metro Manila, the Queen City of the South keep hold of its title as the center for business process outsourcing (BPO) expansion, a press release from the City Information Office stated.
“The city has remained in the radar of BPO investors,” according to the second quarter 2017 report of the Colliers International, a Canadian-based global commercial real estate services firm.
The competitive labor pool from major colleges and universities in the city, continuous support of the local government, and the willingness of the private sector to invest are the primary factors that drive the steady growth of the BPO industry in Iloilo, Colliers revealed. – via Philippine Information Agency
AI is not a threat to PH call center business — cybersecurity company
In line with the concerns about the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) in the BPO industry, global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab is certain that it couldn’t disrupt the country’s call center business.
Director of Great APAC Kaspersky Lab Vitaly Kamluk said that if the Philippines is serious in protecting call centers and other businesses, the government should “invest and improve the quality of the people working on this area. So that when it comes to comparison of machine versus human, there will always be a better quality.
Reports from the previous week alerts that the country’s BPO sector is now starting to see the need to heighten efforts to address the possible impact of AI and automation to the Filipino workforce.
BPO industry is projected to grow by nine percent annually starting this year until 2022 in terms of revenues, which is comparably lower than the “mid-teen” growth it experienced in previous years. – via Manila Bulletin
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