Call Centre Industry Creates Thousands of New Jobs

January 30, 2025

The sector, which contributed just under R13.6bn in export revenue during the same period, is on track to create 500,000 jobs by 2030 to meet the targets set out in the sector’s master plan launched in 2022, according to the Business Process Enabling South Africa (BPESA), the national industry body for the GBS sector. 

BPESA chairperson Zain Patel revealed that in the past year 10 new international business process outsourcing (BPO) operators had chosen to invest in South Africa.

“This reaffirms South Africa’s position as the third most attractive offshoring destination in the world for prominent international firms in the telco, retail, health care, technology and financial services sectors,” he said.

The global business services (GBS) sector, which includes call centres, created more than 14,000 new jobs between January and September last year — with 12,564 of those taken up by young people.

The achievement can be attributed, in part, to numerous market activities spearheaded by BPESA with the support of the department of trade, industry & competition, Invest SA, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and other government and industry stakeholders.

These activities are tailored to attract key international source markets such as the UK and the US: 51.2% of globally focused workers service the UK market, while 30.4% service the US market.

“Since the first quarter of 2022, which is when the sector master plan was officially launched, we have managed to attract 30 international investors to our shores, of which 22 converted to invest in South Africa,” said BPESA CEO Reshni Singh.

“They include 12 BPOs and 10 end-user clients. We expect they will create between 13,000 and 17,000 new jobs in the next 18-24 months, which is a fantastic success story for the sector and the country.”

On average, South Africa is significantly more cost-effective than markets such as Poland and Malaysia, said Singh. 

“Initiatives such as the GBS Incentives and cost management strategies aimed at attracting and retaining international clients have also made the country comparable with locations such as Jamaica, Egypt and the Philippines, which are our main competitors.”

Source: TimesLive