The Outsourcing Week in Review: Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Although approved by the House of Representatives on its final reading, Philippines Senators are asking for more time to consider TRAIN 2, the new tax bill that will restructure corporate tax. It is now likely that it will not pass into law until next year, meaning the uncertainty over tax incentives will continue for some time. According to the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines this has resulted in a significant number of foreign investors putting on hold new investments in the country.
Notwithstanding, the industry and its players continued to be active in preparing for growth. Local giant, Teleperformance opened its 19th site in the Philippines, having announced its rebranding last week: SPi CRM soon followed, announcing that it will be rebranding to ‘Inspiro’. For another top player, Alorica, news was mixed. There are rumours of a possible strike by its call center agents in the Philippines, while back in the US it landed on the list of Inc. magazine’s prestigious ranking of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Accenture also received an accolade as the world’s most diverse and inclusive firm by topping the Thomson Reuters Diversity & Inclusion Index. Ezy Outsourcing Hub announced that it is expanding its service offerings by offering ‘plug and play’ business-ready office space at numerous locations in the country for BPO locators.
There were also positive developments in digital infrastructure for the industry. Global experts met in Manila at the Data Privacy Asia conference to examine and outline the tools needed to make sure the local industry keeps abreast of the increasing demand for better data security worldwide. PLDT continued to pick up new business in its drive to assist companies and government operations better digitize their services, announcing that it had become ICT partner with Central Luzon’s new business hub in Nueva Ecija. DICT confirmed that the much awaited third telco provider will be announced before the end of year. Upgrading the BPO industry’s IT also requires upgrading IT skills in the local workforce. To this end the Israel Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines has urged the government to further invest in education by giving incentives and a stronger mandate to academia to hasten curriculum upgrades that prepare for AI and technology adoption in the country. The BPO sector is a big employer: according to DOLE, there are about 8,000 jobs available on its popular online portal. More than half of these are in the BPO sector.
News Roundup
17 September 2018
More than 4,100 BPO jobs available on DOLE portal – read more…
Infosys to acquire Fluido for US$76m – read more…
Data Privacy Asia to zero in on BPO industry – read more…
14 September 2018
Teleperformance opens 19th site in the Philippines – read more…
Senate unlikely to pass TRAIN 2 this year – read more…
Alorica named among fastest-growing US firms – read more…
13 September 2018
Third telco player to be announced by December – DICT – read more…
Joint foreign chambers oppose move to rational tax incentives – read more…
Israeli firms urge Philippines to upgrade education system – read more…
12 September 2018
House of Representatives approves Train 2 – read more…
Ezy Outsourcing Hub expands offerings for BPO locators – read more…
PLDT bags ICT partnership deal with Nueva Ecija business center – read more…
11 September 2018
Alorica workers announce impending strike – read more…
SPi CRM rebrands to Inspiro – read more…
Accenture is world’s most diverse, inclusive firm – read more…
