10 Reasons Why the Philippines is Your Best Option for Outsourcing
The Philippine Business Process Outsourcing industry has grown by leaps and bounds throughout the last several years. It has developed so much that the country is now known as one of the top outsourcing destinations in the world.
Below, we give you 10 reasons why:
Filipinos are born with an innate sense of always wanting to help people. Their culture is all about being friendly, accommodating and welcoming. These traits are necessary in order to excel in the outsourcing industry where great customer service is key.
English Proficiency and Natural Accent
English is one of the two major languages in the Philippines. This makes the Philippines one of the top English-speaking countries in the world with 55.46% of its citizens fluent in the language. The best thing about it is their neutral English accent, which is said to be preferred by Western clients because it is easily understandable.
Outsourcing to the Philippines will give you access to a wide pool of highly educated and highly skilled workforce. The country now employs over one million workers and boasts of a very high literacy rate of 92.6%, which makes them on par with other more developed countries in the world.
The Filipinos’ wide variety of skills enable the country to deliver services to several sectors and industries such as data entry or data processing, virtual assistance, account set up and maintenance, online tech support, email maintenance and support, website design and development, content creation and management, social media management, SEO, graphics and multimedia, digital marketing and more.
Awareness of Western Culture
Filipinos have long been exposed to Western culture, which dates back to the American regime in the country. In fact, the Filipino culture has been significantly influenced by the West, which enables Filipinos to easily communicate and relate to their Western clients.
The industry continues to be one of the biggest contributors to the country’s GDP. Its revenues continue to increase each year. A recent article in the Philippine Star states that the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) projects a $20 billion revenue for 2016. The World Bank also estimates that the industry can generate up to $55 billion by 2020, roughly 11 percent of the country’s GDP.
One of the biggest drivers for foreign investments in the industry is the fact that the BPO and Information Technology-enabled Services (ITES) sectors fall under the government’s Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). Under this, investors in the local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry are given both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as income tax holidays, exemption from taxes and duties on spare parts, duty-free importation of consigned equipment, among others.
Telecommunications, transportation and other vital infrastructure are constantly improving in the country. Modern highways and an extensive commuter rail networks are constantly being developed. Telcos are likewise improving the quality of Internet and telecommunications services.
Outsourcing to the Philippines gives clients a more cost-effective solution compared to other countries because it is among those with the lowest labor costs based on the Consumer Price Index.
The country’s BPO hubs have consistently been included in the Tholons Top 100 International Outsourcing Destinations Report, with Metro Manila currently maintaining its second place ranking. The other cities included are Cebu City, Bacolod, Iloilo, Baguio City, Davao City and Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Metro Clark was recently added to the list at 98thplace, up from 102th place in 2014.
Originally published at www.blog.infinit-o.com.
