Threats or Opportunities? Why the ‘Heart of CX’ is Beating More Stable than Ever

The ‘Heart of Customer Experience’ is pumping healthily, keeping the right pace to flex its muscles more strongly than ever amid rising global economic challenges. The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) is confident that the Philippine contact center and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry will continue to break positive records, aligned with targets in the 2028 information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) roadmap.

The local contact center sector has set a yearly annual revenue target of $59 billion by 2028—about $49 billion of which is expected from CCAP-member organizations. As an indication of its strength, the sector posted actual revenues totaling $27 billion, accounting for 84% of overall IT-BPM industry revenue of $32 billion.

CCAP Managing Director Rosario Cajucom-Bradbury underlines the forecast workforce growth of the sector—2.3 million full-time employees (to be accounted for by CCAP-member firms) out of the 2.5 million employment target of the entire IT-BPM industry by 2028. She shares key insights on how major issues are posing positive impact to the sector and industry.

GENERATIVE AI

“We are confident that the target employment figure will be achieved even with the emergence of generative AI (artificial intelligence). Contrary to common assumptions, our group believes that the new technology will bolster the sector’s productivity instead of threaten jobs. Generative AI can enhance the strengths of our Filipino agents who can then focus on active listening and become more empathetic and engaging when rendering service to our customers,” she explained.

Cajucom-Bradbury also points out that agents are continuously being upskilled to further equip them with the right knowledge and skills amid the evolving nature of jobs across the sector and the industry. “Agents can be redeployed and upskilled to make them always relevant to the future business model.”

NEW-NORMAL WORK SETUP

The IT-BPM industry is also undergoing changes on how companies operate especially in the new normal. In 2022, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has allowed transfer of registration of industry firms from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to the agency’s Board of Investments (BOI) to allow 100% work-from-home arrangements with employees.

“The hybrid business model is becoming popular within the IT-BPM industry. But it is a constantly changing setup. At the end of the day, the working setup will still depend on clientele preferences. Some clients are fine with the work-from-home setup of agents, while others require working at the office to ensure confidentiality and data privacy. There’s room for flexibility.”

POSSIBLE WAGE HIKES

Another issue the sector is facing pertains to possible wage increases, which some analysts see as a pending threat to the industry’s cost-effective advantage. Cajucom-Bradbury emphasizes that labor cost is just one of the many factors that clients look at when signing up for contact center or BPO services across the globe.

“The Philippines is no longer just a labor arbitrage. Clients look at the quality of experience and work that are rendered. Customer experience covers the quality of care and assistance delivered. Thus, Filipino agents always stand out. They are outstandingly customer-centric. Their empathy enables them to go the extra mile when serving customers. This is why the Philippines has always been the ‘heart of CX.’”

BRINGING OPPORTUNITIES TO THE COUNTRYSIDE

Lastly, the IT-BPM industry, particularly the contact center sector has been aiming to help decongest Metro Manila and bring equally promising opportunities to agents in key digital cities nationwide. “We make sure the 2028 roadmap facilitates inclusive growth into the provinces,” Cajucom-Bradbury said.

The DICT has identified 31 digital cities across the country that contact center firms are eyeing for their next investments. Based on a survey among CCAP-member companies, Metro Cavite tops the list of cities for nationwide expansion. Also in the list are Metro Rizal, Puerto Princesa, Batangas, Iloilo, Calamba (in Laguna), General Santos City, Tarlac, Zamboanga, Dagupan, and Cagayan de Oro, among others. Cebu and Davao are still among the favorites.

“There are more interesting issues and insights that we are sharing starting today. Those are being identified and analyzed in the ongoing Contact Islands 2023, with the theme ‘The Philippines, the Heart of CX.’ This three-day conference is once again facilitating a world-class delegate experience and an excellent venue for exchange of views, coaching, networking and benchmarking for the sector’s leaders and decision-makers,” Cajucom-Bradbury concluded.

CCAP’s annual Contact Islands Conference is set from July 26 to 28, 2023 in Dusit Thani Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City Cebu.