Philippines: A Third World Country But First In the Outsourcing Industry
Being a third world country is never a hindrance for the Philippines especially in the outsourcing industry. Being the leading player in the business of outsourcing, India, is now competing with this third world nation.
A better highly skilled English-speaking labor force. A much dependable telecommunications infrastructure. Low cost of qualified personnel. These are the major significant grounds for choosing Philippines over India for outsourcing service.
A Quick Look: What Makes The Philippines A Better Outsourcing Destination?
The Philippines being one of the world’s second-largest English-speaking countries in the globe is not just something one can ignore. This is considered to be the major reason why the country is a better outsourcing destination than India.
Having a literacy rate of 94%, the Philippines also has a large pool of IT professionals and a cost-competitive telecoms infrastructure. In the 2002 Global Technology Index research done by the META Group, the country ranks third in Knowledge and Information-based jobs. Every year, three million college graduates join the workforce, bringing in an immense source of talent.
Being a US colony for almost 50 years, the Philippines has a Western-influenced culture, an inimitable quality that visibly sets apart the country from other offshore destinations. Even though Asian in orientation, Filipinos are very appreciative in welcoming different cultures, one is the American culture and are very capable to communicate effectively in American English.
Philippines: A Call Center Hub
The Philippines has become the offshore destination of choice for call center outsourcing, specializing in customer support services in the past years. Many leading multinationals have used the Philippines as a global center for customer service basically because of the Filipinos’ high level of English proficiency and strong customer orientation. One of the largest U.S. Internet service providers maintains a staff of 600 at its call center in Clark, Pampanga. Companies such as Caltex, Procter & Gamble, Barnes and Noble, among others, have built large-scale service centers in the Philippines.
The medical transcription business is one very promising industry that has sought outsourcing support in the Philippines. The country comprises a big number of medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, and medical technologists. As U.S. hospitals are now required by federal regulations to convert medical records into data format, the demand for medical transcription has increased. There are now seventeen medical transcription companies in operation providing work for 1,200 Filipinos.
One Healthy Competition with India
Though the Philippines may not be a huge offshore provider of web and software services compared to India, it keeps great promise in the customer service industry. Although India does charge lower than the Philippines—for data encoding work, India charges around $4 (U.S.) versus $6 in the Philippines—more multinationals are choosing the Philippines because of the high quality of work. Furthermore, Filipinos make good customer service agents not only because of their ability to speak fluent English but also because of their helpful and friendly nature.