Turns out pinning our future economic hopes on the BPO industry is a great long-term move, at least according to a presentation posted online by Eastvantage Outsourcing Solutions Inc. The document, titled “7 Reasons Why the Philippines is a Top Outsourcing Destination” (but actually containing 8), is available through slide hosting service SlideShare.net. It’s pretty simple and straightforward.
Only one reason has a cited source though, so we’ll leave it to you to judge the veracity of Eastvantage’s claims. The presentation is clearly designed to drum up business for the local BPO company after all. So just why is the Philippines a “Top Outsourcing Destination”?

8. “97.5% Literacy Rate (That’s Higher Than Israel or Qatar)”

At least, that’s what the NSO claimed back in December 2013.

7. “2nd Largest English Speaking Country in the World”

Wikipedia’s own list of countries ranked by English speaking population places the Philippines 6th, behind the US, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the UK. However, the online Encyclopedia’s own sources rely on a wide range of measurement methods, with different countries relying on different ways of counting English speakers.

6. “Western Style: 400 Years of Shared Culture With Spain and USA”

A very subjective reason. In any case, even if the Philippines was a US colony only from 1898 to 1946, compared to centuries-long Spanish dominance (1521 to 1898), it’s clear which former imperial power had more influence on current Philippine culture and society.

5. “Largest BPO City in the World: A Pool of 14M People (That’s Nearly as Big as Holland)”

Another weird reason, implying that the vast majority of Metro Manila’s 10 million plus population work, would work, or can work in the BPO industry. Unless everything else in Metro Manila is automated, everyone working in Call Centers is an impossibility.

4. “#1 Call Centre in the World”

To their credit, this is Eastvantage referring to the local BPO industry in general, not just the company itself. The next slide has this quote as a source:

“More Filipinos answer phone calls than Indians do”

The actual text from the source New York Times article is:

“More Filipinos — about 400,000 — than Indians now spend their nights talking to mostly American consumers, industry officials said”

3. “Lower attrition compared to China or India”

Can anyone share the source of this?

2. “Lower taxes”

Again, can anyone share the source of this?

1. “Filipinos are the friendliest and hardest working”

Most lists touting the excellence of the Philippines always include a reason similar to this one. And of course, why not include that famous Department of Tourism tagline, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”?
outsourcing-more-fun-in-the-philippines

Rico Mossesgeld

Rico is a frustrated writer, web developer, and tech blogger. Check out rico.mossesgeld.com for more details.

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