Employee Incentives in BPO

In the pharmaceutical industry, entire company personnel, down to the janitor, are awarded overseas vacations whenever the company has a good year. In the outsourcing industry, so many joining incentives are being offered for people to join but hardly do I hear of any incentive to stay that is worthy of mention. I am not talking about an entire 10,000 workforce being taken to Orlando vacations but company HR Departments should come out with something as meaningful. Otherwise, the employee exodus will be bound to continue specially that new employers are setting shop like mushrooms.

Financial Professionals in BPO

In the term life insurance industry, outsourcing is also very much active. The thousands of customer service agents are now being outsourced offshore and since insurance companies are mainly into the number crunching game, I will not be surprised if accountants and financial analysts are already in the game. I was told that financial analysts and accountants occupy several floors of a mid rise building in Manila to serve the number crunching department of a global company. Before long, the outsourcing destinations like India and the Philippines will also be running low on those people.

Philippine BPO Lacking in Senior Managers

While outsourcing companies have been moving into the Philippines, seasoned Indian managers are also being called to fill the void in the managerial levels. Well, the BPO industry is not that old in the country and the boom is continuing. It is therefore not a surprise to find out that key personnel are also in shortage. Experts in the industry’s bpm systems are not as plentiful as the industry requires but it won’t take long.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/ITeS/Indians_write_the_BPO_script_in_Philippines/articleshow/3261737.cms

Profits in Outsourcing Feared to Go Down

Outsourcing companies reported sizeable profits by the end of March but there are fears that this year might end differently. This is because of the economic slowdown in those companies main market- United States of America. Well, a decline in profits because of economic slowdown is normal. Who in his right mind will get disappointed with that? An increase in profit at this time will be fantastic but a break even performance or a decline in profit is nothing out of the ordinary. In times like this, I suggest that critics get back to the gym, consider bodybuilding supplements and get back into shape. For when the times of boom gets back, they will be so busy making money.

Sign Up Incentives in Outsourcing Companies

Oh by the way, outsourcing companies in Manila are aggressively recruiting employees to the point that they are even giving fast food snack coupons to mere applicants. In addition to the cash signing bonuses, it seems that some are also adding iPods as incentives for joining. I hope Sector watches will follow soon. I wouldn’t mind working for a call center for a term just for free watches. Hahaha!

Merk's Outsourcing Plan to be Probed

First, it was Pfizer and now, it looks like it is Mercks turn in the hot seat. If I may digress a bit, this brouhaha with outsourcing and Pharma companies reminds me that I read something about acne scars cream and if you have teenagers at home, it might come in handy. Anyway, Sen. Sherrod Brown is asking Merck for information regarding the company’s outsourcing program. My position regarding this matter has been posted repeatedly. I hope these anti outsourcing people will soon see the light.

Source: http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/senator-demands-merck-outsourcing-info/2008-07-25

StarTek Expands to Manila

North American outsourcing firm is now building an outsourcing facility that will require 1,100 employees. keep em' coming guys!

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Philippine BPO Industry Lacks Senior Managers

While outsourcing companies have been moving into the Philippines, seasoned Indian managers are also being called to fill the void in the managerial levels. Well, the BPO industry is not that old in the country and the boom is still continuing. It is therefore not a surprise to find out that key personnel are also in shortage.

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To Outsource or Not to Outsource: Sometimes, The Decision is Not That Easy

Four Japanese workers are suing AMrican Airlines for illegal dismissal after they were retrenched when their jobs were outsourced. One touchy issue here is that the outsourced division was alleged to have been making profits for the company. And yet the company outsourced their tasks to the point that there were excess employees who eventually resigned. If I am the boss of that company tasked in making the decision, I’d stock up on a lot of anti wrinkle cream. Balancing acts between employee welfare and stockholder pressure for greater profits plus the threat of competition is enough to generate enough ageing lines.

Solutions For The Future Superstars

Have you lately spotted somebody in your household who has the makings of a future star? Or are you dreaming of becoming one but finding it hard to make the first step and applying? Despite the seemingly huge entertainment industry out there, an examination of the entertainment news will reveal that the entire sector is very small. It seems like there are only a handful of players and those who feel that they are Gonnabe stars will have a tough time getting that chance to be screened.

It will probably be a good idea to outsource the scouting and booking part to professionals but that will cost a lot of money and not everyone can afford it. Besides, finding the right professionals to outsource to will be more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

One good news for everyone is that there is Gonnabe, a some kind of social networking for aspiring stars, upcoming stars and industry insiders. The site offers some kind of an interaction for likeminded people and advice, tips as well as opportunities can be shared for the benefit of the members. Despite the small and tough industry out there, a lot of people are kind enough to share information as well as dispense of materials that are not suitable for them but may be of tremendous benefit for others. Being a networking circle, aspiring talents are exposed to more opportunities, one of which can possibly usher them to stardom.

Philippine BPO's Get Increased Attention

I’ve read somewhere that Sitel, a call center in the Philippines is getting increased customer inquiry.

It seems that more US companies are outsourcing a lot of their back office work in order to adapt to the increasing costs of doing business in their home country. Sitel’s president has been quoted as saying,”For the last three months, there's been an accelerated number of companies that have decided to go into the Philippines".

That means more overseas workers the country will be taking customer queries from credit card holders, assisting non techies on how to increase their computer memory, etc.. let’s wait and see if it comes to fruition.

Source: csmonitor.com/2008/0707/p04s01-wosc.html

Sun Life to put up a BPO in RP

In the Philippines, an insurance agent makes money from every sale and every time a client makes premium payments for the next 3 years. That is usually the case. With tons of money derived from its insurance and financial operations, Sunlife, a Canadian Insurance/ financial company wants to jump into the outsourcing bandwagon and put up its own Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations in the Philippines. That should not be so hard to imagine since it has a huge client base in a number of countries. Creating a company that will handle the back office aspects of Sunlife should be a profitable venture for the next ten years.

First Solutions Outsourcing of India

In my viewsonic monitor, I watched the recent JP Morgan report saying that First Solutions of India is overweight and will continue to benefit from market movements, in the recent future. The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has been growing for the past several years and this trend is estimated to continue. Companies like First Source is well managed and is in good position to take advantage of opportunities that will come out.

Retirement Thoughts

A retirement business that I would like to work on is an online and fully automated travel agency. I will simply work out good travel deals and sell it online. Whenever an exciting tour comes up, I will just tag along as a participant and not a travel agency employee. Imagine yourself doing that. Lots of leisurely travel at corporate expense. Hahaha!

Working 4 Hours/Week

The same friend who’s operates an online store also outsourced the routine tasks of posting updates in his online supermarket to a professional virtual assistant and now, he has a lot more time in his hands. He now has sufficient time to relax in his rental unit in the Outer Banks and in the process, he was able to reflect more and develop new ideas for his business.

Outsourcing Store Management

A friend who makes business by selling stuff, from miniature collector items like angel figurines to the bulkier children swing sets was ecstatic upon learning that I am in the outsourcing industry. He used to do much of the work, which took much of his waking hours. However, after he outsourced the nitty gritty’s of web maintenance and management to a group of expert web developers, he suddenly had more time in his hands.

Outsourcing Updates

Quatrro Acquires BPO US-based Gaming Outsourcing Firm Babel Media
By VCCircle - Tue 01 Jul 2008 08:51 AM PST In its sixth and the biggest acquisition till date, Raman Roy-led Quatrro BPO, backed by US-based hedge fund DE ...


'Our work is evident only when nation needs us'
What message would you have for a young man who would perhaps prefer to join a BPO because of a better pay than the armed forces? We have to await the award ...


UK based BPO to acquire Cambridge Sol, stk at upper circuit
UK based BPO-Xchanging mounting a bid to acquire the company. They has offered Rs 82 per share to the promoters, reports CNBC-TV18. ...