The 8th April saw Ryan Strategic Advisory along with the CX Outsoucers team and a great line-up of global thought leaders announcing the outcome of the Annual Front Office BPO Omnibus Survey, 2021 Most Favored Offshore CX Delivery Location award. South Africa, after three consecutive years in a humbling second place, has emerged as the number one global preferred front office CX offshore location.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated technological advances and the automation of many routine tasks – from contactless cashiers to robots delivering packages. In this environment, many are concerned that artificial intelligence (AI) will drive significant automation and destroy jobs in the coming decades.
Just a few decades ago, the internet created similar concerns as it grew. Despite skepticism, the technology created millions of jobs and now comprises 10% of US GDP. Today, AI is poised
Driving Recovery in South Africa’s BPO Industry - Two powerful webinars were hosted by BPESA in September 2020 featuring Meleza Growth Accelerator – an initiative borne from McKinsey & Company’s social responsibility commitment.
Download the presentations and audio from the sessions. You can also read the support article which looks at the potential and opportunity for the BPO sector to create jobs in South Africa and move beyond the crisis.
Article:
The South African Global Business Services (GBS) sector continues to buck the trend; not only has it pioneered best practice in 'keeping the lights on', but it is a sector that has arguably thrived in a global economic lockdown.
In South Africa, GBS extends across multiple sectors including finance and accounting, telecommunications and media, human resources and even legal services. As a result of innovative technology that is the backbone of the sector, operations were able to pivot to agile
Fresh from raking in $250 million (R4 billion) worth of investments during the past financial year, South Africa’s business process outsourcing (BPO) market continues to thrive during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The industry is looking to hire as many as half a million employees in the next 10 years, if market conditions permit.
So says Andy Searle, CEO of non-profit organisation Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), in an e-mail interview with ITWeb.
In a boost to the local BPO sector
How can South Africa embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) to rekindle economic growth and transformation, revitalise skills, and create high-quality jobs in large numbers?1 And how can the country mitigate the risk that the 4IR will lead to job losses – given that unemployment today stands at 29 percent, its highest level in a decade?
These questions have been top of mind for leaders from across the public, private, labour and education sectors – and are the focus of the Commission
The Call Centre Industry in South Africa has been recognised globally for its ability to function as an essential service from the onset of Level 5 of the lock down, ensuring that critical services continued to be delivered with minimal disruption to private and public sector clients locally and internationally.
This recognition of government support and collaboration with business is raising our profile in global markets and is steadily translating into new
"This special adjustments budget sets out government’s initial economic and fiscal response to COVID-19. It fast-tracks normal processes to provide resources to frontline services, provincial and local government, and firms and households, with a focus on the most vulnerable South Africans. It also underlines our commitment to stabilise the public finances and enact reforms that will promote trade, investment and job creation.
The oft-overused word “unprecedented” is appropriate in this case
Amazon has announced that it will be hiring for 3,000 new customer-service jobs in South Africa. The jobs are work-from-home, come with benefits, and applications open today.
“We are thrilled with the talent in South Africa and we are excited… to help keep people working during this unprecedented time,” said the company in a statement.
Amazon is calling the positions “virtual jobs” as you don’t need
With regards to weekly reporting of your call centre/s. Please note that on the 11th June Minister Patel of the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (dtic) withdrew the Level 5 and 4 Disaster Management Act (57/2002): Directions regarding call centres providing Essential / Permitted Services, Gazette no. 43224 as well as Sector Directive where any organisation currently offering an Essential / Permitted Service through a call centre – addressing either
It would be convenient to believe that the South African Global Business Services (GBS) sector is streaking across the global outsourcing landscape as the new darling for offshore locations.
By Andy Searle, CEO of BPESA
This is not surprising as, last month, South Africa placed as the second most preferred offshore customer experience location globally (Ryan Strategic Advisory); another trophy for our cabinet.
This, however, would be to ignore the slow and steady efforts of the Industry, the
For the third year in a row, South Africa has been named the second most favoured offshore location for contact centre delivery, globally.
India came in first and the Philippines third in the annual 2020 Front Office Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Omnibus Survey conducted by global firm Ryan Strategic Advisory. The survey assesses 540 senior decision-makers representing 42 countries spread across multiple sectors.
In South Africa, the sector employs an astonishing 260 000 young people, of
