‘WFH culture in BPO sector here to stay’

MANILA  -The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) on Thursday said it sees work-from-home (WFH) jobs in the local contact center industry continuing in a postpandemic world, citing that the normalization of this pandemic-borne work culture will be here to stay in the foreseeable future.

CCAP board trustee Tonichi Achurra-Parekh told reporters during a forum in Makati that the industry average today was estimated to be on a 60-40 split in favor of in-office work in what is considered as the Philippines’ “sunshine industry.”

Achurra-Parekh, who is also the vice president at the business process outsourcing (BPO) giant Concentrix, admitted that some service sectors could even go as high as 100-percent WFH, depending on the nature and demands of the job.

She said these included the travel and technical support sectors where employees were allowed to fully work from home, something that was not as widely accepted before the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

“I think the pandemic provided a good business case for our ability to work at home,” the CCAP official said.

“The work force also clamors for a work-from-home environment,” she said further.

Despite this, Achurra-Parekh said that some employees preferred to resume work at the office, explaining that not all people may find their homes to have an environment that is conducive to working.

Asked whether she sees work-from-home culture contracting in the future, she said: “I see it balancing out already because of hybrid work. So, there’s work-from-home, on-site and hybrid.” INQ

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