When you work in the contact center industry, you get a first-hand view of how large the industry really is and the impact it makes in the corporate world globally. Most people don’t realize how much the contact industry has expanded throughout the world. In fact, contact centers are located in almost every region of the globe with some locations becoming favorites for some corporations. A recent article detailed several global services locations, as of 2017, and ranked them according to popularity. Here are their results:
GLOBAL SERVICES RANKINGS BY GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
ASIA
India: India continues to hold the number one spot globally for outsourcing services. India offers a very skilled, English speaking workforce that has placed it at the number one position for contact center outsourcing for many years. In addition to a skilled workforce, India brings a lower wage demand making them an efficient choice economically as well as skill-level. Perhaps the one disadvantage of working with India is the pronounced accent that can sometimes make communication difficult.
China: For a time, China was a very close second to India, however, since 2016, their ranking fell further behind India’s due to a decrease in their business environment score. China does offer a skilled workforce and a strong work ethic that is prevalent in Asian culture. However, the language barrier can be an issue making this choice a little less efficient for US based companies.
Malaysia: They are advancing in people skills and is becoming the preferred destination in gaming and animation.
Indonesia: The language barrier, a difficult working environment and low industry experience have been hindrances in this country but it is slowing showing signs of growth.
Vietnam: This country is growing in its availability for contact center outsourcing. The wage cost is half that of China and India and the younger generation of Vietnamese are becoming fluent in English making the language barrier much less of an issue.
The Philippines: The Philippines remains a strong industry leader and is gaining ground in the fields of Engineering and Legal BPO.
Thailand: Thailand does not rank as highly as it once did because they have not developed their IT support as other countries have. However, it maintains a fairly high ranking thanks to its focus on tourism and manufacturing.
SOUTH AMERICA
Moving over to South America, we find the following countries as fairly strong contenders as BPO outsourcers.
- Brazil
- Chile
- Columbia
- Peru
Each of these countries in South America ranks as a BPO outsourcing provider however difficult business environments affect their ability to grow in this area. For example, Brazil has just extended its temporary work contract from three months to nine months. In Santiago, Chile cost pressures are forcing companies to look at second-tier cities such as Valparaiso, Concepcion and Valdivia. The country of Columbia is growing in popularity as it becomes more stable. Their currency is falling, making it more appealing from a wage standpoint and in recent years, Atento located their BPO offices in Bogota’, Columbia.
Of all the South American countries, Peru is actually making great gains in the area of BPO outsourcing. Costs are affordable and the workforce is growing both in numbers and in skill making the country a fast-emerging favorite in BPO outsourcing.
EASTERN EUROPE/EUROPE
Countries making up the Eastern European market are:
Poland: Poland has experienced some political instability recently and therefore has dropped in rank as a favored BPO outsourcing location. However, some companies have expanded in this country such as Zurich Insurance, Goldman Sachs and Cathay Pacific Airways to name a few.
Bulagaria: This country has seen its ranking fall in recent years, however some companies have chosen to expand into Bulgaria.
Czech Republic: The Czech Republic is growing as its workforce grows and improves in skill and the positive financial environment of the country has also made it an attractive choice for BPO outsourcers.
Romania: Romania continues to be a favored outsourcing location due to the many languages spoken there. They are also very strong in Banking, Financial Services and Technology.
Germany: Germany remains a favored on-shore site for many global companies.
United Kingdom: The UK has become more competitive in the area of BPO outsourcing. Brexit has caused some uncertainty and caused the exchange rate of the pound to drop significantly. While these may seem like huge negatives, they are making the UK more competitive as an outsourcer. They bring a highly skilled work force along with strong language skills in several languages.
NORTH AMERICA
Countries making up the North American BPO market are:
Canada: Canada offers a strong and highly skilled workforce; however wages are higher, making it a more expensive option than most other countries. The primary language spoken in Canada is English with French being a strong second. Immigration in recent years has ushered in a much greater ethnic mix, introducing other languages into the culture.
United States: The contact center originated in the United States, but higher wages can make this an expensive option. The US brings a highly skilled work force to the table but does not typically offer bilingual support for companies.
Jamaica: Jamaica is a popular off-shore contact center location offering a growing work force that offers strong customer support. Jamaica is affordable since wages are not as high as they are in the United States.
Mexico: Mexico has grown in popularity as a favored near-shore contact center location. Mexico offers bilingual support for customers along with a large percentage of their workforce having been educated in the United States. Mexico’s wages are also significantly lower than that of the US and Canada making them a highly competitive outsourcing option.
OUR RECOMMENDATION
What this shows is that there are a wealth of options when it comes to finding BPO outsourcing support. The key is to identify which countries offer strong support based on your needs as well as a wage that will allow you to keep this a cost-effective operation for your business needs. At Centris, we have found that Mexico can offer some of the largest benefits for U.S. based companies looking to reduce their contact center costs but provide a higher level of service. Contact centers located in Mexico can save companies 50-70% compared to U.S. based contact centers. In addition, a majority of the call center agents lived in the U.S. and understand the U.S. culture very well. They are also bilingual with very little distinguishable accent allowing companies to provide both English and Spanish support. And with close proximity to the U.S., it makes visiting and working with the centers as easy as anywhere in the United States.
LET’S TALK
Centris offers a highly skilled work force at a rate of 50-70% less than most other on-shore or near-shore contact centers. We have expertise in Insurance, Healthcare, Retail and Technology just to name a few. If you’d like to learn more about how we can support your customer service needs while keeping costs competitive, contact us. We will devise a customized plan that will fit all your needs.
