PH to benefit from contact center shift

Industry analysts agree the Philippine contact center sector is poised to benefit the most from an ongoing shift from customer service to customer experience.

Global consulting and research firm Everest Group, through its white paper entitled “Philippines at the Helm of Delivering Customer Experience of the Future,” has found that contact centers in the country are very ready for this shift.

This offers new employment opportunities for higher value services for Filipinos.

“We are excited about the new opportunities that are arising within the local contact center sector as we collectively address ongoing shifts focusing on technology and nature of service,” said Benedict Hernandez, chairman of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP).

Hernandez said in the onset of artificial intelligence and automation, new jobs will be created to support higher level of customer experience.”

CCAP said higher level of agents’ skills could counter the speculated setbacks of increasing automation across various industries.

Some of the local contact center companies have already implemented measures to ensure their agents meet current requirements from international clients, leading to more new high-skill jobs with higher pay rates.

One of the firms that have embraced such adjustments is the Philippine operations of US-based Genpact Services LLC, which has started skills upgrade programs four years ago.

“We need to sharpen the saw in terms of soft skills and enhance those in terms of science, technology, engineering, and math,” said Danilo Sebastian Reyes, Genpact Services country manager, also a member of CCAP’s Board of Directors.

“English proficiency is still an advantage. But there are skills that need to be enhanced to upgrade the level of service provided into a customer-experience-focused one,” Reyes added.

Aside from providing necessary trainings to its employees, the company is also coordinating with the academe to make sure specific skills required in modern contact center jobs will be integrated in special courses offered by local universities. The goal is to make more fresh graduates more than ready to take modern call center jobs immediately.

Source: Malaya