A recent study concerning call centers in the Philippines suggests that companies in the region fear that their talent pool is drying up and that employee retention continues to be a large problem in the industry.
The Contact Center Association of the Philippines conducted the study that analyzed the concerns of 33 percent of businesses within the CCAP—28 of a total 84 members. The breakdown of the surveyed group consisted of 50 percent small businesses, 11 percent medium-size businesses, and 39 percent large enterprises. According to analysis of the report at Inquirer Business, the survey is ongoing, and that suggests the study may include more CCAP members in the future. The news report described the results of the study as follows:
"Of the 28 companies polled, 82 percent said the quality of the talent pool was a top concern, followed by the supply (79 percent), and retention or attrition, which referred to turnover (64 percent), according to partial results of the CCAP survey."
Although the number of companies concerned with a drying talent pool is indicative of major problems within the industry, it is also notable that a relatively small percentage of companies listed business continuity as a business challenge. Only four percent of companies listed business continuity as a challenged they said they faced. Furthermore, only 18 percent appeared to be concerned with marketing challenges and only 21 percent took issue with business costs.
Overall, companies appear to struggle with finding employees that can properly help customers with IT-related issues, financial services, and healthcare support. Within the call center community, these fields may be considered advanced areas of service, so the talent pool may need to be higher than average to provide customers with a level of care that meets their expectations. The matter is compounded by the high rate of attrition within the industry. Therefore, any talent that is able to properly handle customer concerns may be on the way out. CCAP president Benedict Hernandez remarked that the organization seeks to provide employees with necessary training and ongoing education to keep them fit to provide such services. However, training and education have clearly not assuaged the concerns of business leaders.
There is a silver lining, though, on the dark cloud that is industry concern for its talent pool. The survey also shows that call centers have grown by 17 percent year on year, and the CCAP expects revenue and employment to continue to rise by approximately 14.5 percent through the rest of this year and next.