DB Product Review

Three little letters have made a big difference in the Philippines – B.P.O., or Business Process Outsourcing.  In little over a decade it’s grown to become the Philippines’ second largest source of foreign exchange, earning more than $15 million in revenue, and creating jobs for nearly 1 million people.  The sector grew 17% last year, a trend many expect will continue.  

When you look at the Philippines, one interesting aspect about it is that it is certainly an Asian country, but it’s probably also one of the most westernized (in terms of culture) Asian countries in the world, just based on its history.  We have 100 million people that speak English well, and now the rest of the world is looking for them to help them with their contact services issues or, their back-office work.  
Sykes E-Recruitment Site

Sykes is big in the Philippines, it employs thousands of people, but it’s just one among 800 more BPO’s in the Philippines.  Why are they there?  Well, for one thing, the Philippines is cheaper.  Not just for BPO’s, but for manufacturing as well.  There’s a movement of not just American companies, but fairly Japanese and Korean companies out of China because of their rising cost there.  Their infrastructure particularly in power, there’s rising demand for electric-powered generation, and we have some American companies in that sector now and more are looking.