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Sunday, August 12, 2007
Small call centers start closing shops (4:35 p.m.)
MANILA -- Already about 10 to 20 percent of the total number of small companies in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry have closed shops since the start of this year, a result of the peso appreciation that has significantly reduced their revenues.
The BPO industry has suffered a very "direct hit" because its contracts are with US clients and thus, measure revenue in US dollars, Oscar R. Sañez, chief executive officer of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines said in an interview with Philexport News and Features.
Like an export company, call centers and BPOs spend in pesos because they operate in the Philippines, he explained.
"In fact, we are seeing some increases in our peso cost by about 3 to 5 percent in line with the current inflation," he said. "But for the meantime, our costs have remained the same."
Sañez cannot exactly say how long these call centers and other BPO firms could sustain their operations should the peso further strengthen.
Despite this, Sañez dispelled presumption that the BPO industry has already reduced its hiring rate. (Danielle Venz of Philexport/Sunstar Davao) |
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