For PH call centers, talent pool quickly drying up

The quality and supply of talent are two of the biggest challenges faced by the country’s contact center sector this year, according to a midyear industry survey by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP).

Of the 28 companies polled, 82 percent said the quality of the talent pool was a top concern, followed by the supply (79 percent), and retention or attrition, which referred to turnover (64 percent), according to partial results of the CCAP survey.

Least among the CCAP members’ concerns were business continuity, with only 4 percent of them noting this as a challenge. Also, marketing rated low on their list at 18 percent, while a fifth of CCAP members (21 percent) had issues with the cost of doing business.

The survey covered 33 percent, or 28 of CCAP’s 84 members. Of these companies, half are small enterprises, 11 percent are medium-sized firms, while the remaining 39 percent are large companies. The survey is still ongoing and the results presented are still partial.

According to CCAP, most members found it highly challenging to hire employees who could service IT helpdesk/technical support requirements of their customers. They also cited difficulties in hiring talents who could handle financial services/advisory segment, and healthcare support services.

CCAP president Benedict Hernandez said in a text message that talent has always been a top agenda of the industry. To maintain the quality and supply of talent, CCAP has embarked on programs and measures such as training and education, career education and marketing and promotion of BPO growth in the provinces, Hernandez explained.

Currently, customer service remains the top service offering among CCAP members, followed by IT and technical support. Financial services is now the third biggest service offering, overtaking sales, which ranks fourth. This is followed by healthcare support, employee/HR help desk, and payroll processing.

The United States remains the Philippines’ top market followed by Australia/New Zealand.

Despite the challenges noted, CCAP said “overall, the survey suggests that the contact center industry is growing by 17 percent as expected from our projections.”

CCAP earlier said that the sector’s revenues and employment were both poised to grow by 14-15 percent this year as well as in 2015.