Call center group reviews revenue, employment targets

The umbrella organization of the country’s contact center industry is revisiting its revenue and employee growth projection for the year to take into account the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 crisis to operations.

“Definitely, we need to look at our revenue projection and make adjustment on revenue projection based on effect of COVID-19,” Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) president Jojo Uligan said in a virtual press conference yesterday.

He said CCAP was originally projecting a four to five percent growth in revenues this year.

“And I think for 2020, because of the fact of pandemic, that growth rate, we need to revisit,” he said.

Also to be part of the review is the contact center sector’s projected employee count.

“We add 70,000 to 90,000 [employees] a year. That is also part of what we will revisit. I am sure even our clients will also revisit. We need to check back with our customers when this pandemic is over,” Uligan said.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, Everest Consulting partner H. Karthik said there are still opportunities for the sector.

He said some companies are looking to ramp up operations because of the need to increase customer service for online retail as well as health care.

“The opportunity is real. It will require Philippine industry to have more established remote working model. That is really where the role of digital platforms and tools comes in,” he said.

With the Philippines still facing challenges in terms of internet infrastructure, however, he said India where the contact center sector also plays a significant role, is doing better.

“It has been a challenge for industry in India as well to work from home. However, overall, India is faring better than the Philippines. If you look at percentage of workforce working from home, it is higher than the Philippines and that has been a combination of internet infrastructure being better, industry taking steps in advance to get work-from-home operational,” he said.

Like other businesses, contact centers also had to adjust operations as the government imposed a lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Among the measures implemented is work-fromhome arrangements, and providing accommodation to employees who need to report to the office.

Uligan said about 30 to 35 percent of the workforce of CCAP members are working from home.

CCAP board director Tonichi Parekh said the group expects the work-from-home arrangement to continue as part of the new normal for contact centers.

“We mentioned it’s about 30 to 35 percent [of the workforce] and we don’t see it going down,” she said.