Teleperformance plans Cavite office

Outsourcing firm Teleperformance Philippines plans to open a new office in Cavite by the third quarter as it signals optimism about the growth of the sector throughout the health crisis.

Teleperformance Philippines Chief Operating Officer Mike Lytle in an e-mail on Monday said that the opening of its 22nd location in the country will push through if construction activities can resume. It also plans to expand existing operations in Quezon City.

He said the industry, after the impact of the lockdown, would see minimal growth this year. The Philippine outsourcing sector, he said, is operating at 66% of its normal levels.

“We will expect to see flat to minimal growth year-over-year because of the lost time over the last couple of months,” he said.

Teleperformance clients in the tourism and hospitality sectors saw the most adverse impact throughout the lockdown.

He added that the company also had to train or “reskill” employees to move them to different locations and support types. Their previous work was no longer required after their clients’ businesses shifted.

But Mr. Lytle’s long-term projections are more optimistic, pointing to outsourcing as a cost-saving option for companies that have lost revenues throughout the lockdown.

“While there was a little bit of slowdown as clients assessed their requirements and approach during this uncertain time, we are now seeing positive indicators for strong growth in the balance of the year,” he said.

Demand from the e-commerce and online streaming industries has also been growing.

He said that the company is seeing growth in the shared services sector, which includes human resources, scheduling and planning, and accounts receivable and payable in finance and accounting. Analytics, he said, will also translate to opportunities in Philippine outsourcing in the next few years.

Industry stakeholders had said that Philippine outsourcing may lose contracts as larger global companies try to diversify their location strategies to reduce disrupted operations, especially as other outsourcing destinations may have stronger Internet connectivity for work-from-home measures.

But Mr. Lytle said that this option is limited to companies that can afford it.

“There will certainly be some clients who look to diversify their approach to improve resiliency and business continuity by balancing their requirements across multiple countries. However the increased complexity and cost of operation will limit others,” he said. “We expect this will not be a major impact to the Philippines overall IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management) outlook.”

Teleperformance Philippines employs around 47,000 people. By Jenina P. Ibañez, Reporter|BusinessWorld

Source: Peso Economics