Life Expectancy of the Call Center Industry

[jpgutjoseph]

Do you think that the Call Center Industry will last forever? Or do you prove otherwise because of some factors i.e. Global Economic Crisis...
Until when do you think (or accdg to your research) will call centers last? 2012??

[stepehenyan@12]

as long as our goverment is willing to accept this type of investment it will definitely stay for good and i hope some other job would come in our way that doesn't require you to work during the evening.

[its.joyz]

akala ko life expectancy ng mga nag wo work sa call center...heheh

[lunarpanda]

hangga't walang law na nagbabawal ng outsourcing, it will stay.

parang hamsters nga kung magsulputan yung mga call centers e.

pag may nagsarang isang cc, sigurado maraming pwedeng lipatan.

meron din namang mga local call centers e. marami ding cc na hindi naman american yung accounts.

[theJohn]

I believe it's impossible to predict the duration of the call center industry here in the Philippines. Even if we stop supporting International Call Centers, we would still be need to support our local service companies, e.g., pldt, bayantel and meralco.

With regard to the current economic challenges... Most of international companies want to avail the service of Filipinos. The proof of this is the increase in the number of outsource companies here in the Philippines. Companies like Dell who have suffered the economic challenge still have their services under Teleperformance. In-house support for BIG companies are also increasing, e.g., Thomson Reuter, Lexmark, and Telus.

[ivankups22]

To answer the question of the TS, call centers will be existing until we have consumer products and consumers/customers. Part of the services of any customer centric company will be a contact center wherein you can ask queries and complain about anything and everything about the product and the company or ask for help regarding the product. It is an added value which can separate a company from the rest of their competitors. Why do our clients demand so much on metrics and KPI's that move toward customer satisfaction and "wowing" customers? Why do companies spend millions of their money if it does not contribute to the "bottomline" of their stockholders? Call centers are not charitable institutions, they're there because of a reason.

Now the better question might be, what is the life expectancy of the CC industry in the Philippines? This is a question that might not have any clear answers yet...but with the rise of China and their dedication to making their country a capitalist giant, we might find the answers soon enough.

Remember that the advantage of us Filipinos is our command of the English language (not the slang, mind you, but the "neutralness" of our accent) since it is the "universal language" (may it be an American, Australian, or Canadian account), something that we have because we've been taught the language since nursery. If other countries will follow suit, then we might not just be competing against India but as well as other Asian and South American countries wherein population is huge and labor costs are lesser (not to mention a more stable and supportive government). This is something to think about that's why we should really try and capitalize with this advantage.

My plan is to save what I can (being in the industry myself), just in case these companies decide to migrate somewhere else. Let's enjoy the fruits of our labor but at the same time use our resources wisely. Not because we're earning more than the average joe doesn't mean that we have to live beyond our means...who knows, the Chinese' learning curve might be faster than we think.

[menyek]

I think the call center industry here in the Philippines will still thrive and prosper for many years to come.

Consider this: If I'm a company owner and I have 100 american employees that I pay 10$ per hour --- I would save more money by paying Filipinos a fraction of that amount (maybe 5$ an hour? or less?). So now Obama wins the election, and he wants to give incentives to companies that hire american workers? If I would decide to move my workforce from the Philippines back to the U.S. I better think twice of the costs involved.

China may be huge when it comes to manpower - however their conservative and strict culture, willingness to accept foreign language will make it very very difficult for call centers to thrive there. It's easier to teach a chinaman how to do manual labor by example - rather than to teach him to speak english.

[cryogen_weroll]

Nice insight ivankups22! ^_^

But, I think it would take decades before the Chinese learns more about the culture of the Westerners. Culture and tradition takes time to develop. This has long been seen in world history. But who knows the limits of human capabilities? ^_^

Indians on behalf is really something to fear with regard to outsourcing. The best advantage I could see for us Filipinos is our adaptability. We are always willing to change and to learn new things. We are the ones adapting to the culture of the Westerners and never the other way around.

It makes me sad to see how futile the efforts of our government to strengthen our own economy. We always rely on other countries, may it be our own agricultural needs. Remember the increase in the price of rice?

I know we can't rely much on our government so the only option we have is to struggle harder. And yes, I TOTALLY AGREE with ivankups22 that we all need to use our resources wisely.

[ivankups22]

It's nice to read posts that went through a thought process once in a while (a welcome change from rants and dissatisfaction about what this CC did or did not do, etc.).

I agree that China might be decades away from becoming a major player in the contact center industry simply because you don't learn language and culture overnight. What scares me though is the way the Chinese have developed over a relatively small amount of time. Remember that a decade ago, you couldn't even imagine chains of food giants like KFC or McDonald's (there were a few KFC's and McDonald's in the 90's if I remember correctly) all over China let alone China hosting the Olympics. Though still majorly a communist country, China has been more "open" than it never has been before. The rise in demand for English trainers in China in the last couple of years should be a wake up call that the Chinese wants a piece of the contact center pie. This is something that might or might not worry us at this point but the reality is that the Chinese are working towards getting there. The only question is when.

We must not wait for the threat to become real. Sure we think that the Chinese has a long way to go before reaching a level of competency in the language part, but if we don't strive to better ourselves, our "advantage" might deteriorate in time. We cannot rest on our laurels. We shouldn't worry about the things that we cannot control, but we can definetely show these multi national companies that chose to invest in us that they made the right choice and that they can entrust their business to us in the years to come.

[cryogen_weroll]

Well said. ^_^

Hosting the Olympics was really a major accomplishment of China. Once again, they have shown the world how they can be so extravagant.

With regard to having a cost effective center, I believe the Philippines has yet to show its full potential. We haven't completely tapped our resources from the provinces since most of the centers are located in NCR.

Although some of us are hopping from one call center to another, a few also strives to be better by getting certifications. Before, most of the recruitment team would only based the qualifications on educational attainment. This is not the case today. Certifications are now widely used specially in Helpdesk and Technical Accounts.

Thus, I can say that with the ascent of the job requirements, we Filipinos would even strive harder. (I just hope so...)

But then again, China holds about one-fourth of the world's population. Considering that most of the families want a baby boy, most of the female fetuses are aborted. As such, its male population is larger than the female population.

I don't want to discriminate but guys are cost effective in terms of the benefits that should be given. (maternity leaves,etc.)

Cheers! Work hard, play hard. ^_^