PH to lead in BPO race among Asean members

MANILA - The Philippines is seen leading the race in the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry when the regional markets integrate next year as targeted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), according to a top BPO executive.

“It certainly depends on services. But if you look at the combination of both cost and quality, and then beyond that the scalability, there is no better offer than in the Philippines,” Teleperformance President for Asia Pacific David Rizzo told the BusinessMirror.

While the value proposition of the country remains the world-class English-language services and the quality and scale it provides, Rizzo said it is also becoming the preferred destination for some other language requirements in the region.

He cited, for instance, that many companies that are looking to outsource their services within Asean would prefer to do so in a single location like the Philippines rather than having them spread out across multiple geographies.

“So we’re seeing [BPO services requiring other] languages done from the Philippines that include everything from Japanese to Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and some of the smaller Southeast Asian language requirements, such as Thai, Vietnamese, Bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia,” he said.

Although they are typically less required in comparison to the English language, he said, they continue to grow, based on his experience leading Teleperformance in the Aspac region.

From a regional perspective, he added, there are already “integration opportunities,” given that the industry also necessitates other Asean dialects.

Growth-wise, Rizzo sees it even greater in some of the non-customer facing channels where voice or language capability is less needed.

But for those industries where it’s more secondary in nature, he said the country’s capability is “quite strong,” so it “better positions itself for growth in the future and long-term sustainability of what it has today.”

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How much will you be paid for working on holidays?

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has urged all private employers to pay their employers correctly during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz reminded the employers to observe the pay rules and other core labor standards.

"It's Christmas. Our employers should share the blessing and joy of the season and, in the interest of our workers' welfare and protection, pay them correctly during the holidays," Baldoz said.

Christmas Day (Wednesday), Rizal Day (Monday) and New Year’s Day (Wednesday) have been declared as regular holidays.

For regular holidays, the proper pay rules should be observed under Labor Advisory No. 6:

If the employee did not work, he shall be paid 100 percent of his salary for that day. Computation: (Daily rate + Cost of Living Allowance) x 100 percent. The COLA is included in the computation of holiday pay.

If the employee worked, he shall be paid 200 percent of his regular salary for that day for the first eight hours. Computation: (Daily rate + COLA) x 200 percent. The COLA is also included in computation of holiday pay.

If the employee worked in excess of eight hours (overtime work), he shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his hourly rate on said day. Computation: Hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 200 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked.

If the employee worked during a regular holiday that also falls on his rest day, he shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his daily rate of 200 percent. Computation: (Daily rate + COLA) x 200 percent] + (30 percent [Daily rate x 200 percent)].

If the employee worked in excess of eight hours (overtime work) during a regular holiday that also falls on his rest day, he shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his hourly rate on said day. Computation: (Hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 200 percent x 130 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked);

December 31 (Tuesday) is a special non-working day, while December 24 (Tuesday) is an additional special non-working day.

For special non-working days, the following pay rules apply:

If the employee did not work, the "no work, no pay" principle shall apply, unless there is a favorable company policy, practice, or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment on a special day.
 If the employee worked, he shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his daily rate on the first eight hours of work. Computation: [(Daily rate x 130 percent) + COLA).

If the employee worked in excess of eight hours (overtime work), he shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his hourly rate on said day. Computation: (Hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 130 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked).

If the employee worked during a special day that also falls on his rest day, he shall be paid an additional 50 percent of his daily rate on the first eight hours of work. Computation: [(Daily rate x 150 percent) + COLA].

If the employee worked in excess of eight hours (overtime work) during a special day that also falls on his rest day, he shall be paid an additional 30 percent of his hourly rate on said day. Computation: (Hourly rate of the basic daily wage x 150 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked).

Baldoz stressed that following pay rules on regular holidays and special non-working holidays “is a decent work standard that encourages productive and proficient workers.”

"Voluntary compliance with labor laws, including correct wage payment during holidays, denotes workplace excellence and redounds to the competitiveness of business and the country's industries," she added.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

BPO industry bullish on growth this year

MANILA, Philippines - The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry expects to continue its sustained growth this year, an official of outsourcing service provider Transcom Philippines said.

Siva Subramaniam, country manager and head of sales for Transcom Philippines and the Asia-Pacific, said BPO revenues reached $13.5 billion in 2012, citing data from the latest Business Process Association of the Philippines quarterly survey.

"We have seen the direction of BPO revenues to be going up since 2009. In 2012 alone, companies generated $13.5 billion in revenues, slightly higher than the $13 billion target and 22-percent more than the previous year’s $11 billion projection. We are, therefore, able to surmise that stability for BPO revenues are indeed consistently going higher with employment record of 720,000 entering 2013. This momentum is good for the country,” Subramaniam said in a statement.

The BPAP-O2P survey showed high optimism in the industry in the next 12 months, despite concern over availability of adequate and dependable workers. The survey was conducted among 179 executives in 20 IT-BPO and shared services companies.

Meanwhile, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) expects the Philippine information technology and business process management and global in-house center to generate $16 billion in revenues by the end of 2013.

Revenues are expected to reach $25 billion by 2016. The industry is expected to provide 1.3 million direct jobs and 3.2 million indirect jobs.

"Yes, our outlook and forecast is similar to that forecast by IBPAP. We expect to grow 35% employees by end of this year. Perhaps our plans could be a bit aggressive but any growth we see from our current staffing levels would be seen as significant," Subramaniam said.

Subramaniam said Transcom's growth will be driven not just by the growth of its international clients but domestic or local customers as well.

"The Philippine economy is growing and so is the need for support services to achieve its economic gains. The BPO industry is well prepared to address the country's growth," he added.

Transcom acquired a Canadian-owned company, Nucomm International on 2007 and built its first Philippines showcase center in Frontera Verde, Pasig City.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

More fun to outsource in Philippines - study

MANILA – It’s more fun to outsource in the Philippines because of lower labor costs and bright young talents, according to an IT research company.

"The daily minimum wage is set to approximately $10 per day, making it far cheaper to outsource in the Philippines. As such, Filipino salaries are but a fraction of their western counterparts," Lauro Vives, chief analyst at XMG Global, said.

Based on a global study, Indian professionals are, on average, paid 37 percent higher than their Filipino counterparts.

Another cost-reduction factor for business process outsourcing is the fewer number of legal holidays, Vives said.

The Philippines has 18 holidays a year, compared with India’s 33.

"Lower business costs translate directly into higher business profits; let’s face it! The Philippines remains a less expensive choice. The typical operating costs of a BPO company in the Philippines results in average savings of $15,000 to $22,000 per annum," Vives said.

The Philippines also has plenty of economics zones, numbering 248 locations that give opportunities for investments, and locating business operations.

Besides lower labor costs, the country’s workforce is highly-skilled and competent, possessing a world-class education in IT and competitive infrastructure backed by several multinational companies.

Country estimations project 440,000 graduates for 2012-2013. Of that total, 50,000 are IT graduates.

Despite its advantages, the Philippines however lacks multilingual talent, Vives said.

"An estimate of over than 6,000 multi-linguals in 2011 far exceeds labor market projections. Last year, with insights and help from XMG Global, a tie-up between the Board of Investments and IBM was formed to implement programs to enhance the capabilities of multilingual talent in general, but more particularly in the BPO sector in languages other than English," he said.

"This effort will play a crucial role to hit the industry’s goal of generating $25 billion in revenue by year 2016. This is yet another example of government and business working in concert to achieve a common goal," he added.

As of last year, the BPO industry employed over 640,000 people directly and 1.3 million indirectly, generating $11 billion in revenues, equivalent to five percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product.

source: interaksyon.com