BPESA - Business Process Enabling South Africa

Week 18 – Summary

In this 18th weekly Call Centre COVID-19 Status report, 115 companies reported on operations taking place from 229 sites across the country and from home. 47% of the companies categorised themselves as GBS operators, 44% as Financial Services operators and 9% as ITO / ICT operators. 41% were members of BPESA and 59% non-members.

• There was a total of 67,775 people reported to be working during the week. 34,639 worked on site while 33,136 worked from home. 43,326 worked in the domestic market while 24,449 serviced international markets.

• KZN reported the most on-site work (13,208) followed by Gauteng (10,939) the Western Cape (9716), the Eastern Cape (739), Mpumalanga (35) and the Free State (2).

• Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (14,578) followed by the Western Cape (9347), KZN (7,783), the Eastern Cape (1,422), Mpumalanga (5) and the Free State with 1.

• 249 people were sent home during the week (0,36% of the reported workforce) with 104 testing positive for CV-19 (0,15% of the reported workforce). The positive cases were reported in Gauteng (43), KZN (53), Western Cape (6) and Eastern Cape (2). Sadly, there was 1 life lost in the past reporting period.

• Call Centre operators continue to ensure strict adherence to the industry Best Practice Standards for workplace health and safety under COVID-19 putting their employees’ safety first.

• In addition to taking all steps to secure the workplace from COVID-19 operators continue to support their staff with transport solutions. 75% of companies in Mpumalanga provide private transport, 50% in the Western Cape, 38% in the Eastern Cape, 27% in KZN and 18% in Gauteng.

The operating and business environment is still challenged with cash flow management being a high priority for business EXECs as they deal with lower than normal levels of productive service, additional costs of compliance and generally suppressed trading conditions, specifically in the domestic market. However, operators engaged in the export market are increasingly reporting new opportunities while actively engaging in various source market initiatives to stimulate demand and secure new business

Week 17 – Summary

17th weekly Call Centre COVID-19 Status report, 115 companies reported on operations taking place from 240 sites across the country and from home. 48% of the companies categorised themselves as GBS operators, 42% as Financial Services operators and 10% as ITO / ICT operators. 37% were members of BPESA and 63% non-members.

There was a total of 68,634 people reported to be working during the week. 33,924 worked on site while 34,710 worked from home. 43,558 worked in the domestic market while 25,076 serviced international markets.

KZN reported the most on-site work (12,929) followed by Gauteng (10,311) the Western Cape (9908), the Eastern Cape (733), Mpumalanga (35) and the Free State (8).

Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (16,164) followed by the Western Cape (9,655), KZN (7,449), the Eastern Cape (1,415), Mpumalanga (21) and the Free State with 6.

1,199 people were sent home during the week (1,74% of the reported workforce) with 142 testing positive for CV-19 (0,2% of the reported workforce). The positive cases were reported in Gauteng (55), KZN (74), Eastern Cape (4) and Western Cape (9). There were sadly 3 lives lost in the past reporting period.

In addition to taking all steps to secure the workplace from COVID-19 operators continue to support their staff with transport solutions. 75% of companies in Mpumalanga provide private transport, 50% in the Western Cape, 38% in the Eastern Cape, 27% in KZN and 18% in Gauteng.

Operators continue to experience challenges due to COVID-19. These include revenue losses and costs increases, payment ability of clients, high levels of absenteeism due to fears of contracting the virus, low levels of productive capacity, and power supply issues affecting WFH service delivery and capacity.

Based on the reported data, the GBS sector remains at an extremely low level of productive capacity, although higher again than the previous week. It is estimated that only 38,6% of the export segment workforce were active this past week. 40% of Individual companies report that they are operating at less than 50% of capacity while only 16% indicate that they are operating between 91% and 100% capacity – 7% of companies reported that they are only operating from home.

The total productive capacity numbers will be understated as not all call centre operators are reporting, as they should. BPESA is actively engaging those companies on its radar that are not reporting to encourage them to comply.

Week 16 – Summary

In this 16th weekly Call Centre COVID-19 Status report, 112 companies reported on operations taking place from 232 sites across the country and from home. 48% of the companies categorised themselves as GBS operators, 42% as Financial Services operators and 10% as ITO / ICT operators. 43% were members of BPESA and 57% non-members.

There was a total of 65,132 people reported to be working during the week. 31,009 worked on site while 34,123 worked from home. 44,872 worked in the domestic market while 20,260 serviced international markets.  KZN reported the most on-site work (13,249) followed by Gauteng (10,023), the Western Cape (6,820), the Eastern Cape (873), Mpumalanga (35) and the Free State (9).  Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (16,408) followed by the Western Cape (8,586), KZN (7,165), the Eastern Cape (1,953), Mpumalanga (5) and the Free State with 5.

1,077 people were sent home during the week (1,6% of the reported workforce) with 266 testing positive for CV-19. The positive cases were reported in Gauteng (134), KZN (113), Eastern Cape (2) and Western Cape (17). There were again, thankfully, no reported lives lost in the past reporting period.

More companies (75%) have adopted the use of screens or partitions to complement the use of masks in the workplace. In addition to adding the screens and taking all other steps to secure the workplace from COVID-19 operators continue to support their staff in getting to and from work with private transport solutions. 75% of companies in Mpumalanga reported that they provide private transport, 50% in the Western Cape, 45% in the Eastern Cape, 24% in KZN and 17% in Gauteng.

40% of companies reported that they operated at less than 50% of their full productive capacity while only 18% reported operating at more than 90% productive capacity. Including work from home (which made up 52,4% of the reported workforce this past week) and on-premise work (which made up 47,6% of capacity) the export segment of the GBS Sector was estimated to be operating at 31% of pre-March levels; although this figure will be understated as not all companies reported as they are required to do.

The sector role players continue to plan and implement initiatives to stimulate the growth in demand for export services with new initiatives already underway in the UK and gearing up to start in Australia and the USA shortly. Work has also progressed to prepare for the upskilling of the sectors workforce through various skills supply chain initiatives including the future skills digital learning platform.

The sector growth plans, focussed on a multi-faceted approach to recover lost jobs and create new ones,  are captured in the refreshed Jobs Summit programme (still WIP) and the digital skills and jobs programme submitted to the Office of the Presidency in June. BPESA has also written to the dtic to initiate the Sector Master Plan process in which these programmes can be consolidated.

Week 15 – Summary

In this 15th weekly Call Centre COVID-19 Status report, 107 companies reported on operations taking place from 236 sites across the country and from home. 49% of the companies categorised themselves as GBS operators, 42% as Financial Services operators and 8% as ITO / ICT operators. 41% were members of BPESA and 59% non-members.

There was a total of 66,599 people reported to be working during the week. 33,100 worked on site while 33,499 worked from home. 43,058 worked in the domestic market while 23,541 serviced international markets.

KZN reported the most on-site work (12,811) followed by the Western Cape (9,731), Gauteng (9,439), the Eastern Cape (759), Mpumalanga (351) and the Free State (9).

Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (16,354) followed by the Western Cape (9,186), KZN (6,489), the Eastern Cape (1,460), Mpumalanga (5) and the Free State with 5.

1,072 people were sent home during the week (1,6% of the reported workforce) with 300 testing positive for CV-19. The positive cases were reported in Gauteng (138), KZN (126), Eastern Cape (9), Western Cape (23) and Mpumalanga (4). There were thankfully no reported lives lost in the past reporting period.

BPESA circulated version 4 of the Best Practice Standards for workplace health and safety under COVID-19 which has been endorsed by the DOH. These require very stringent measures to be taken by operators, which they are doing to the best of their abilities as evidenced by the levels of compliance being reported every week. Several operators have hosted representatives from the DOH and DEL who have satisfied themselves of the standard of controls in place and the level of compliance. In some cases, the representatives have given very helpful guidance wrt their expectations of process and documentation requirements.

In addition to taking all steps to secure the workplace from COVID-19 operators continue to support their staff with transport solutions. 30% of companies in Mpumalanga provide private transport, 52% in the Western Cape, 39% in the Eastern Cape, 22% in KZN and 21% in Gauteng.

Operators continue to experience growing levels of absenteeism due to fears of contracting the virus, very reduced levels of productive capacity, and load shedding which has negatively impacted work from home (making up 50,3% of the reported active workforce).

Based on the reported data, the GBS sector remains at an extremely low level of productive capacity, although higher than last week. It is estimated that only 36,2% of the export segment workforce were active this past week. 46% of Individual companies report that they are operating at less than 50% of capacity while only 17% indicate that they are operating between 91% and 100% capacity – noting that these figures include on premise and WFH numbers.

Week 14 – Summary

Week 13 – Summary

Week 12 – Summary

• In the past week 100 companies reported to BPESA. 48% of them were from the GBS Sector, 10% from the ICT Sector and 40% from the Financial Services Sector. 63% of reporting companies were non-members of BPESA. However, there are still companies not reporting which is concerning as this leaves gaps in visibility of the actual status of COVID-19 and limits BPESA’s ability to support and intervene where there is non-compliance.

• During the past week, more companies have started to implement screens at the workstations to provide additional protection for staff operating within close proximity to each other (less than 1.5sm). While 73% of companies reported only applying the 1.5sm spacing practice there were 37% who reported using screens this past week.

• There were reportedly 880 people (1,45% of reported active workforce) sent home with symptoms or high temperatures. This represents an 11% increase on the previous week. There were 295 positive cases identified with 85 of them being in the Eastern Cape where they were working from home. The other positive cases were 138 in Gauteng, 41 in KZN and 31 in the Western Cape. Tragically, there has been another death (in Gauteng) bringing the total number of reported deaths in the sector to 8 (0,013% of the active workforce) since lock down.

• There was a total of 60,320 people reported to be working versus 59,082 in the previous week. They were delivering services for 100 companies from 212 delivery sites across the country. 28,973 people worked on site while 31,347 worked from home. 20,196 people were delivering services for the international market and 40,124 for the domestic market.

• KZN again reported the greatest number of people working on site (11,419) followed by Gauteng (9,443), the Western Cape (7,384), the Eastern Cape (689), Mpumalanga (32) and the Free State (6).

• For those working on site employers either planned for private transport or staff made use of public transport, their own transport or lift clubs.  Private transport was mostly arranged by companies in Mpumalanga (75%), the Western Cape (64%) and the Eastern Cape (34%).

• 51,2%% of people were working from home during the reporting week. Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (14,975) followed by the Western Cape (8,887), KZN (6,145), the Eastern Cape (1,338), Mpumalanga (1) and the Free State (1).

• 61% of companies reported they were operating between 30% and 60% of productive capacity. The international sector reported overall productive capacity at 31% (based on estimated pre-March full capacity figures).

Week 11 – Summary

In this weeks update on call centre COVID 19 status in South Africa, the number of survey respondents picked up to 99 companies (up from the 96 that reported last week). 48% of them were from the GBS Sector, 10% from the ICT Sector and 41% from the Financial Services Sector. BPESA continues to support all companies in the sector with 64% of reporting companies being non-members. However, there are still companies operating call centres in other industries (Financial Services, Collections, Retail) that are not reporting to BPESA.

The industry health and safety protocols have now become common practice with the reporting suggesting that they have been bedded down well by call centre operators. Companies continue to find creative ways to reduce the risk of spread of the virus in the workforce including by example: call taking employees provided with a face visor; employees divided into different sections/floors and restriction on movement between buildings/floors in place; the introduction of a sanitiser tunnel, Perspex dividers; daily management stand-ups to drive awareness & discipline; a committee of influencers being established to reinforce social distancing and sanitation in the business.

There were reportedly 790 people (1,3% of reported active workforce) sent home with symptoms or high temperatures. 226 of these were positive cases identified, 71 in the Eastern Cape, 108 in Gauteng, 9 in KZN and 38 in the Western Cape. In all cases appropriate procedures were being followed to isolate them, send them for testing, and to deep clean the working spaces. Tragically, there have been a further 2 deaths reported during the week (both in the Western Cape) bringing the total number of reported deaths in the sector to 7 (0,011% of the active workforce) since lock down.

45,7% of people were working from home during the reporting week. For those working on site employers either planned for private transport or staff made use of public transport, their own transport or lift clubs. Private transport was mostly arranged by companies in Mpumalanga, the Western Cape and Gauteng.

There was a total of 59,082 people reported to be working versus 50,569 in the previous week. They were delivering services for 99 companies from 214 delivery sites across the country.

32,058 people worked on site while 27,024 worked from home. 22,356 people were delivering services for the international market and 36,726 for the domestic market.

KZN again reported the greatest number of people working on site (12,672) followed by Gauteng (10,571), the Western Cape (8,076), the Eastern Cape (698), Mpumalanga (35) and the Free State (6). Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (11,590) followed by the Western Cape (8,394), KZN (5,642), the Eastern Cape (1,393), Mpumalanga (4) and the Free State (1).

57% of companies reported they were operating at less than 50% of productive capacity. The international sector reported overall productive capacity at 34,39% (based on estimated pre-March full capacity figures).

Week 10 – Summary

• In this tenth report on call centre COVID 19 status in South Africa, the number of respondents reduced to 96 companies down from the 102 companies that reported last week. 49% of them were from the GBS Sector, 11% for the ICT Sector and 40% from the Financial Services Sector. BPESA continues to support all companies in the sector with 58% of reporting companies being non-members.

• The sector has demonstrated its ability to successfully self-regulate under Level 3 with all companies reporting high levels of compliance to the Health and Safety protocols. Although it is repetitive it is important to note that all companies conduct COVID ready workplace assessments, have designated COVID compliance officers in roles, conduct regular risk assessments, apply all social distancing protocols, use masks, take temperature readings daily, and implement other methods such as shifting to prevent the spread of the virus . They also all provide regular communications to their staff and use signage throughout the workplace to communicate COVID-19 guidelines. Many companies innovate to find new ways of keeping the environments clear from the virus with special fogging techniques used, infra-red sensors used for temperature checks and other creative techniques being deployed.

• There were reportedly 900 people (1,7% of reported active workforce) sent home with symptoms or high temperatures. 128 of these were positive cases identified, 32 in the Eastern Cape, 36 in Gauteng, 6 in KZN and 54 in the Western Cape. In all cases appropriate procedures were being followed to isolate them, send them for testing, and to deep clean the working spaces. Tragically, there have been a further 2 deaths reported during the week ( one in Gauteng and one in the Western Cape) bringing the total number of reported deaths in the sector to 5 (0,015% of the active workforce) since lock down.

• 43,8% of people were working from home during the reporting week. For those working on site, 42% of employers provided private transport to some or all their staff, while for the remaining people other arrangements were made by the companies or the staff.

• There was a total of 50,569 people reported to be working versus 58,651 in the previous week. They were delivering services for 96 companies from 209 delivery sites across the country.

• 28,405 people worked on site while 22,165 worked from home. 18,478 people were delivering services for the international market and 32,091 for the domestic market.

• KZN again reported the greatest number of people working on site (10,628) followed by Gauteng (9809), the Western Cape (7309), the Eastern Cape (628), Mpumalanga (22) and the Free State (6). Gauteng reported the greatest number of people working from home (7955) followed by the Western Cape (7151), KZN (5799), the Eastern Cape (1253), Mpumalanga (6) and the Free State (1).

• The international sector reported productive capacity at 28,4% compared to 33% last week. This drop is partly due to a lower number of companies reporting this past week. The low levels of productive capacity are largely due to the constraint on capacity created by the 1.5m spacing requirement.