MANILA – The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) expects the industry to rebound in the second half of the year despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, its president Jojo Uligan said in a virtual press conference Thursday.
Uligan said most of the business volume of the industry comes during the third and fourth quarters of the year.
He added it is undeniable that Covid-19 and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) impacted the volume of calls from industries, such as airlines and tourism among others, business volume continues to grow in online retail and logistics as there are more people now ordering online.
Uligan added they do not hear from any of the CCAP members that will reduce the number of their employees since there are now tasks that require more people.
The industry balances this out by getting people from sections where the volume went down, he said.
CCAP Board of Director Tonichi Parekh said companies continue to hire people with recruitment activities being done via online and social media platforms.
“While recruiting activities slowed down in March because of the lockdown, it went back to normal levels in April,” Parekh said.
Moreover, Uligan further said companies are expanding their operations despite the pandemic.
“We have new logos coming despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Uligan said the industry targeted to grow by 4 percent to 5 percent before the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We need to look at our revenue projection or, and make adjustments on revenue projection based on the effect of Covid-19,” he said.
The group will also review the industry’s job generation this year with the new work arrangements due to the ECQ and general community quarantine (GCQ) protocols, he added.
“Last year I think, we generated about 77,000 [jobs]. We're adding about 70,000 to 90,000 a year now, and again that's also part of what we will revisit,” Uligan.said.
He said 30 percent to 35 percent of their employees are currently working from home due to the ECQ and GCQ. (PNA)
