Indian Bpo’s Touching New Heights Of Growth
India’s BPO industry is set to see a logjam as it braces up for tough times owing to lack of new business additions, economic slowdown in the US and increasing competition from other countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines.
The problem is likely to become critical because “the impending US elections have created a negative visibility factor for Indian BPO companies. No listed company in the US wants to dole out new business contract to an Indian BPO company. It creates a negative publicity for the company in terms of jobs being shipped abroad. MNC vendors such as IBM, Accenture and EDS now have strong offshore capabilities in India. Outsourcing to these vendors in the US does not create a negative visibility,” say Avinash Vashishtha, CEO and MD Tholons, an outsourcing advisory firm.
Stats speak for themselves. While IBM has built up a strong 73,000 workforce in India, Accenture has about 37,000 employees. Though Indian BPO companies are strong in terms of cost advantage, nobody wants to create a negative brand image by just saving a couple of thousand dollars. While MNCs are ramping up fast, Indian BPOs are not hiring that much.
Another factor which is coming into play these days is lessening of new pure voice contracts. Most of these pure voice-based contracts are now going to the Philippines. According to many surveys, Filipinos have a better voice and accent — closest to the American accent — which gives them a natural advantage. Metro Manila is the world’s largest concentration of BPOs in the world. About 240 BPO companies exist in and around Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Source