|
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
WHILE the Philippine contact center industry is
projected to grow at a faster pace this year than its Asian
counterpart, the number of Filipino agents leaving their work is
increasing, according to an Asia Pacific research and analyst firm.
In a briefing, Catriona Wallace,
Callcentres.net president, said the rise of the contact center
industry in the country is an extraordinary period of growth, with
seat size set to increase by 23 percent in the next twelve months.
Wallace said the total number of contact
center seats in the country is estimated to be 129,000 this year
from 105,000 last year.
She attributed the increase in growth to
the resilient domestic economy, technology and shift of clients
preference to Filipinos from Indian nationals.
Wallace said 53 percent of contact center agents
servicing the domestic economy are Filipino, while 47 percent are
international.
It its 2008 Asian Contact Centre Industry
Benchmarking Report, Callcentres.net said the country’s industry
growth is higher than that of Malaysia, which is growing 17 percent;
Singapore, 8 percent; Thailand, 15 percent and India, 10 percent.
However, Wallace said the industry must
continue to address its human resource challenges as 51 percent of
the agents have left the contact center industry, while 49 percent
have moved to another contact center.
She said the reasons for leaving the industry
are lack of career path, uninteresting work and below industry-rate
remuneration.
The Filipino contact center agent receives
$3,964 annually, lower than in Thailand with $4,877, Malaysia,
$5,199 and Singapore, $16,884. But, higher than in China, $2,539 and
India, $2,862.
Don Lee, director of Asia Pacific, Autonomy
etalk, said the high levels of employee turnover can have a
devastating effect on all aspects of customer service, disrupting
operations and decreasing customer satisfaction, as well as
increased costs for new high training.
But Wallace said, “We are seeing some
improvement in agent tenure in the Philippines, with the average
time an agent remains working in center now being 22 months, up from
18 months in 2007.”
The research was sponsored by Autonomy etalk and
Genysis, an Alcatel Lucent company. The study interviewed 539
contact centers executives representing 2,488 contact centers.
|
