Professionals asked to stay in country, take advantage of growing KPO industry

PROFESSIONAL nurses, lawyers and accountants need not go abroad in search of high-paying jobs, an official said. They can stay in the country and maximize the business opportunities offered by the growing knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) BPO/IT committee chairman Jerry Rapes said.

He said professionals can find a variety of career and business opportunities with KPO, especially with “cloud computing.”

Rapes said experienced professionals such as nurses, lawyers, radiologists, medical doctors and accountants can start a KPO business of their own by forming a group that offers expertise and provides various services via the cloud in the field of health services, finance, legal services, data management and human resources.

Demand for nurses

He said nurses, for instance, are in demand for KPO services because of the growing offshore services in the medical industry. He said this also offers alternative jobs for unemployed nurses.

“In this way, nurses need not leave the country and search for high-paying jobs but rather stay here and earn the same pay,” he said.

While Cebu has started taking advantage of the opportunities provided by KPO, Rapes said professionals providing these services here are still “loosely-organized.”

Unlike the usual outsourcing activities that involve concerns of customers, a KPO service deals with knowledge-based services or those that involve high-value work carried out by highly skilled staff.

The US is not only the lone market for KPO services, as the industry is maturing and the services have expanded to many other countries.

India is currently the major hub for KPO activity but the Philippines is seen as an emerging KPO service location, according to international research firm Ovum in its report last November.

Ovum said that along with China and Sri Lanka, the Philippines is also becoming an increasingly important player in the KPO market.

Niche

“It (Philippines) has started to carve out a niche for itself in a number of key areas, including health care outsourcing (providing industry-specific services to hospitals and health care providers). This market is expected to grow significantly during the next few years, with a notable increase in demand coming from the US as a result of the recent reforms in health care regulations,” it said.

Industry players, meanwhile, recognized KPO as another important industry that can protect the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry from the possible impact of the pending US bill on outsourcing.

“Moving up on a higher value chain where knowledge and skills are present will help preserve employment and sustain the BPO industry, particularly here in Cebu,” said Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedf-it) chairman Francis Monera.