CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. The Contact Center Association of the Philippines is branding the country as the "Heart of CX (customer experience)". From left to right are CCAP managing director Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury, CCAP Mickey Ocampo, and CCAP board director Pushkar Misra during a press conference at the Peninsula Manila in Makati City on June 27, 2023. (PNA photo by Kris Crismundo)
MANILA – The country should maintain its position as a preferred destination for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies given their large contribution to the Philippine economy, an executive from the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said Tuesday.
In a press conference in Makati City, CCAP managing director Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury said the Philippines has higher reliance on the information technology and BPO (ITBPO) industry compared to other competing countries such as Egypt, India, Mexico, Malaysia and Poland.
Based on the 2028 roadmap of the industry, the share of the ITBPO in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is at 8 percent.
This is higher than India’s ITBPO revenue share to its GDP at 4.7 percent, Poland at 3.9 percent, Malaysia at 2.2 percent, Egypt at 1.3 percent and Mexico at 0.3 percent.
The local ITBPO industry also accounted for 33.3 percent of the total exports of goods and services.
In terms of full-time employment, it shared 3.4 percent to the total workforce.
“With heavy reliance on the GDP contribution, the more really a reason for us to maintain our position to become the preferred country to outsource their business process management,” Cajucom-Bradbury said.
Generative AI
Amid the increasing use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), which utilizes algorithms to create new content in the industry, CCAP president Mickey Ocampo said this new technology enhanced the delivery of customer experience (CX) services to clients.
“Generative AI can be used to automate and enhance various aspects of customer interactions. Some examples are chatbox and virtual assistants. There are automated email responses for faster adaptability. To illustrate, in the past, when an agency needed to respond to a customer’s call, he had to look at the CRM (customer relationship management) and backtrack or even go to the knowledge base. Now, these things are automated, further enhancing agent productivity,” Ocampo said.
CCAP board director Pushkar Misra said reskilling and upskilling of the ITBPO workforce are needed to adapt to the impacts of these new technologies in the pool of talents.
“It does not really make some tasks obsolete, but instead, it reinforces the need for upskilling and reskilling of talents, which are already being done across the industry,” Misra said.
Meanwhile, CCAP will hold this year’s Contact Islands Conference in Cebu City from July 23 to 26 with the theme of “The Philippines, the Heart of CX”. (PNA)
