US BPO bill ‘would affect local employment’

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

LABOR Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz admitted on Wednesday that a proposed law that would discourage American companies from outsourcing its operations will definitely affect the country’s employment sector.

She was, however, unable to provide an estimate of the impact should the bill be approved by the US Congress.

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Instead, she directed Philippine Labor Attaché to Washington Luzviminda Padilla to immediately conduct an impact management assessment and brief the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) on the bill’s possible effect to the country.

In 2010, the 600,000-strong sector grew by 26 percent to $8.9 billion and was projected to post revenues of $11 billion last year.

Of this amount, industry representative Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) told Sun.Star that US companies hold an 80-percent market share.

"Naturally, if there’s a slowdown, of course there will be a negative impact because many outsourcing companies here in the Philippines are based in the United States," Baldoz said.

House Bill (HB) 3596, otherwise known as the "Call Center and Consumers Protection Bill" was introduced last year in the US Congress.

Last Tuesday, Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone asked the Aquino government to mount a massive lobby in the US Congress to block the bill.

Among the provisions of the proposed legislation is requiring of call center operators, who answer calls, to identify their location while giving US callers the option of choosing a local operator.

Sought for comment, BPAP external affairs director Martin Crisostomo said it is understandable that some American lawmakers chose to follow a protectionist policy in light of the weakening global economy.

But such measures are only “short-term or even disruptive to the economy,” he said.

"In a free and matured world marketplace, we see that at the end of the day, it will be the natural global market forces which will dictate and prevail. We also believe that not only government leaders but also the consumers of countries will come to this realization,” he told Sun.Star.

In the meantime, Crisostomo said the 250-member BPAP is committed in “providing high-value, quality, and cost effective outsourcing services to its clients.”

Earlier, the BPAP said it expects an increasing revenue share for the non-voice sector which includes higher value type of services like finance and accounting, engineering services, and transactional services.

The group said the non-voice BPO is projected to grow by 20 to 25 percent, while voice BPO by 10 to 15 percent from 2011 to 2016. (Virgil Lopez/AMN/Sunnex)