Alleyne forecasts over 10,000 jobs from BPOs by 2025
By Vishanna Phagoo
vishanna.phagoo@trinidadexpress.com
THE call centre industry, which has evolved and expanded beyond traditional inbound and outbound call services to encompass a wider range of business processes, is now known as the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, and is experiencing exponential growth locally, president of InvesTT Sekou Alleyne has said.
But what does this mean for T&T? Well according to Alleyne, in an interview with Express Business, the benefits include, but are not limited to, foreign exchange earnings, job creation, career development and raising awareness among investors about T&T.
"The major benefit is employment. Call centres offer the best first-time jobs for young people and the employment is in an age group of 18-35 where there is a higher level of unemployment and underemployment,' said Alleyne.
He added that these customer service companies also focus heavily on training in technical skills and customer service excellence.
Thisemphasis,hesaid,translatesintoworldclass customer service training and provides opportunities for career advancement within the industry.
'You could go from call centre agent to supervisor, then to a quality control supervisor, and eventually to an operations director running an entire country. And then they can take that to any other country in any other call centre. So, they have the benefit of a career in that industry or take those skills and apply them to another industry and that's across multiple thousands of young people, so when you think about the multiplier effect, that's large.'
Numerous benefits
The second major benefit, Alleyne said, is that foreign companies setting up in T&T bring their own clients, meaning they are not taking away business from local call centres.
'They are not looking to target the market; they are bringing their clients from the United States and that means all of their earnings are foreign exchange earnings coming into T&T. These companies would need to bring the US into the country to pay salaries, rent, telecommunication, local service providers etc. so that's 100% foreign exchange earnings that you are achieving.'
Between 2015 and last year, eight BPOs firm have entered T&T.
Another benefit that he elaborated on was what he described as not necessarily 'tangible,' but he mentioned that as more call centres operate out of T&T, other companies in this sector will become aware of T&T and may choose to incorporate their business in the country.
'Teleperformance is the largest BPO in the world, so onceTeleperformance sets up in your country, (other companies will say) 'Oh, T&T, why is it so good?'So, now what's happening is some of the other call centres that we have in our pipeline that are in the process of setting up, the first question they say is,'Well, we saw Teleperformance came. So, something must be good about that because they have a very structured way of making those decisions.' So having these companies here actually raises our profile and gives us more awareness which solves that awareness issue challenge.'
Teleperformance entered T&T in 2022. As for the training received by these companies, Alleyne mentioned that aside from the wider benefits, such as job creation and career development, this would also result in improved customer service across all industries for the general public.
'You're just raising the overall level of customer service stock within the country and I think that's benefit to the individuals like you and me that are consuming services and having issues and having to make a phone call and get service. So, I think that is something that really bodes well for all of us.'
T&T's BPO industry, as described by Alleyne, primarily focuses on the telecommunications sector to help resolve issues with cable, internet services, and cell phones. However, BPO services have the potential to expand to all industries and sectors.
Though the country's BPO is booming now, Alleyne said it was not like that ten years ago.
At that time, Trinidad and Tobago was not considered an attractive investment destination due to what was seen as our reliance on the oil-and-gas economy, he said.
'Traditionally, you've not seen a lot of these international call centres inT&T and it's not that T&T was not an attractive location, it's just that it was perceived to be an expensive location because our economy was based on oil and gas. Because of the revenue generated by oil and gas, our GDP (gross domestic product) per capita appears very high in comparison to a lot of the countries in the region,'he said.
International companies may have initially steered clear of operating in T&T due to the perceived high costs associated with labour, he said. However, Alleyne said as InvesTT has actively promoted and advertised T&T as an ideal investment location, more companies have shown interest in and begun operations within the country.
Once concerns about T&T being a costly market were alleviated, these firms discovered the country's 'strong telecommunications infrastructure', which enables them to provide services back to the US effectively.
'We have English-speaking (people), high technical skill amongst our labour pool, a very highly educated population and most importantly, a strong cultural affinity and the ability empathise and provide good customer service back into the US.'
Alleyne added that direct flights from New York, Miami, and Houston, coupled with T&T sharing the same time zone as the eastern seaboard of the US, significantly enhances T&T's image.
Expanding workforce
The most well-known BPO firm inT&T is the award-winning iQor, which started in Tamana InTech Park, Wallerfield with about 60 agents in September 2015. Alleyne said it was also the first BPO firm in T&T that intended to hire people in neighbouring areas so it was easy for them to get to work and get work experience without the hassle.
Around three years later, iQor opened its second location in Barataria which can be seen from the highway heading east before opening one on Ramsaran Street, Chaguanas and now considering establishing another office closer to Port of Spain.
As iQor is looking to expand its 1,700 employees to 3,000 employees, the other companies that are operating here are also looking to expand their workforce.
Bill Gosling Outsourcing, Port-of-Spain, operates with 20 people but is looking to expand to 120 while Teleperformance is aiming for 1,000 employees up from 300.
Ascensos is projecting an increase from 500 employees from 240 with Equisoft aiming for 50 from 25.
The most notable is Nearshore Teleservices which is hoping to grow from eight to 800.
This would result in 5,470 jobs for people in T&T.
As BPO companies seek T&T as their next location, Alleyne shared that the imminent incentive of Special Economic Zones offers specific benefits, including corporate tax benefits, value-added tax exemptions, duty benefits, and other fiscal incentives, to help manage the cost base in T&T.
He added that InvesTT has also been collaborating with its stakeholders to ensure that the process for these companies and their local workforce can operate quickly and seamlessly.
'SoworkingverycloselywiththeMinistryof National Security to ensure that they can easily and quickly access certificates of character for the employees, that is very important.'
He said that this is among other considerations, such as internet providers and ensuring'grade-A'workspaces.
Alleyne pledged to continue his efforts to promote the industry, especially with several other call centres entering the local market.
'We believe that this industry which is just at about 2,400 employees right now and projected to go close to 6,000 can grow beyond 10,000 in 2025 going into 2030 and I think the benefits are just going to expand exponentially, especially the benefit of raising the level of awareness of T&T as a destination for foreign exchange earnings.'
President of InvesTT Ltd Sekou Alleyne.
