Many argue that outsourcing call centre services abroad is merely a transfer of wealth, taking jobs away from workers in the U.K., only to give them to foreigners for lower wages in an effort to save the company money — but researchers say this is actually something beneficial to the local economy.
The Business Services Association (BSA) recently published research conducted by Oxford Economics that says outsourcing call centre services overseas actually help strengthen the local economy.
The report says, “an increase in outsourcing of 1% adds £2 billion in productivity gains to the UK economy”
That increase in productivity stems from the fact that outsourcing allows local companies’ employees to focus on tasks they specialize in for their core business competencies – hence saving time and money, which the company is able to put back into the local economy.
The U.K. holds the most sophisticated and largest public service economy in the world, according to the BSA. Public services include services such as:
Innovative new thinking and investments from the business sector improve efficiency for service sector users, thus delivering tax savings for users. Essentially, it all comes down to effective supply chain management, both at home and abroad, and both within U.K. government agencies and private companies; everyone is connected in the complex ecosystem of the global market.
Some countries are better at producing certain products and services than others, and when a country exports goods and services, its sales to a foreign market bring money into the country, which increases the exporting nation’s GDP.
“When a country’s GDP is high it means that the country is increasing the amount of production that is taking place in the economy and the citizens have a higher income and hence are spending more”, according to Quora.com
But many people imagine business process outsourcing as exporting local jobs to offshore call centres, and a company sacrificing customer service to fulfill their desire to drive down costs.
Mark Fox, Chief Executive of the BSA, hopes to do away with this stigma, stating, “Outsourcing is a big part of the economy and it’s not just about Indian call centre services– it’s about companies running more efficiently and focusing on their core skills”, he says. “It’s a dynamic industry that’s not properly understood. It’s not just about cutting costs; it’s about better quality of service”.
Companies abroad whose core competency is the call centre, such as PITON-Global, for example, have won awards for providing such quality service. These companies pride themselves on being the best at what they do in the call centre industry, so that their customers can be the best at what they do, while having a topnotch call centre services.
“The notion that businesses or governments should try to do everything themselves,” the BSA report concludes, “is as misguided as it is old fashioned. Bringing in experts simply makes sense”. Call centre services out of the Philippines have been enjoying increasing global demand.
