During the last year, Contact Center and BPO service sector exports were estimated at $600 million, 12% less than the $720 million reported the previous year.
Some of the factors influencing the failure to reach the job creation projection include the fact that no English language skills have been generated in young people, and at the time of the forecasts the exchange rate in the country was Q8.2 to one dollar, and now the rate has dropped to Q7.7.
The service outsourcing industry in the country generated a yearly revenue of $6 million in 2008, and nine years later, the industry's revenue is close to $150 million.
Currently 45 companies operating under the free zone regime are engaged in outsourcing services in the country.This figure far exceeds that of 2007, when there were 12 companies in this sector.The incentives provided by the free zone scheme, coupled with the low labor cost demanded by these types of service centers, explain much of the growth that this market has experienced in the country.
Ibex Global Solutions has announced an investment of $4 million in a customer service, collections and back office center, to service its operations in Latin America.
Its geographical proximity to the United States was one of the reasons why the company Ibex Global Solutions decided to set up its regional headquarters in Managua. With an investment of $4 million, the company has opened its service center, where 500 agents will work providing services in English and Spanish and 250 in Spanish only.
EGS Guatemala has announced the expansion of operations in customer services, billing and back offices for telecommunications and energy.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in Guatemala:
Guatemala, March 15, 2016. The Minister of Economy, Ruben Morales, participated in the inauguration of EGS's third site in Guatemala, Primma 2. This company belongs to the call center and BPO sector, one of the two sectors covered by Decree Law 19-2016.
During 2014 the industry for business process outsourcing generated sales of $397 million, an increase of 15% compared to 2013.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Exporters Association (-AGEXPORT-):
Entrepreneurs in the IT & BPO sector at AGEXPORT, made up of enterprises working in Software Development, Development and Digital Content, Contact Centers and BPO's, announced that at the close of 2014 there was growth of 15%, positioning Guatemala as emerging market in the industry of outsourcing services.
Between 2009 and 2013 the revenues generated by the sector which outsources business services increased from $225 million to $650 million at the end of 2013.
For the development of this industry to continue "... Invest in Guatemala together with other institutions has designed a strategy with a vision for 2020 ", with the aim of achieving, over a period of five years, the generation of $2.3 billion in services and thus contribute 3.57% to the gross domestic product (GDP).
On October 7th call center and shared services companies will meet to discuss issues related to the sector and review El Salvador's strategy for attracting foreign investment to this industry.
From a statement issued by the Export Promotion and Investment El Salvador (PROESA):
The Government of El Salvador, through the Agency for Export and Investment Promoter of El Salvador (PROESA), will be holding on the 7th of October a forum on business services at a distance (SED by its initials in Spanish), which will be a place where trends of this sector in the Americas in general and our country in particular are analyzed. This event will be a platform to spread ideas on El Salvador's backing of SED's, in which the results of the development strategy and roadmap of the sector for business services at a distance will be discussed.
The prepaid solutions firm Blackhawk Network is to invest $3 million in a customer services center in San Salvador.
The company Blackhawk Network, dedicated to digital commerce, gift certificates and prepaid products in the United States and 20 other countries, will install a call center in the country and plans to hire up to 450 employees by 2018.
The new tower it has moved to in San Jose, Costa Rica, will allow the company to hire 25% more personnel, which now totals 900 employees.
Aegis expands its footprint in Costa Rica
March 21, 2012 Zoom In Zoom Out
900-seat contact center provides for growing client engagements
Dallas, Texas and Mumbai, India: Aegis, a global outsourcing services provider and part of the $17 billion Essar Group, announced today that it is expanding its footprint in Costa Rica by opening a 900-seat call center in Rohrmoser, San Jose, Costa Rica, close to the U.S. Embassy and the National Stadium.
The multinational Sykes has increased its operations in Costa Rica, where it opened its third call center this week, a $2 million investment that aims to create 700 jobs.
The location chosen was Hatillo, south of San Jose, a place with favorable cost conditions. The initial number of employees is 300 people, reported Nacion.com.
"The biggest risk we face is hiring the 700 people we have projected having at this site, but we are confident we will be able to do it. Furthermore, the other sites are full to capacity and there is opportunity to grow here", Chuck Sykes, president of Sykes Enterprises Incorporated, told Nacion.com .
Concentrix, the global service provider and absolute subsidiary of the SYNNEX Corporation, announced it has established an international contact center in Nicaragua.
A press release by ProNicaragua reads:
The company, located in the capital, is able to hire 60 people in its first phase and plans to increase the figure to approximately 200 employees next year.
Companies in the sector are predicting the creation of about 42,000 jobs for bilingual staff over the next 3 years in order to meet the needs of the industry.
The projections by executives from the companies 24 / 7 Customer, the Commission for Contact Centers and BPO’s from the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport), also include the creation of some 15,000 positions for workers who provide services in Spanish.
The outsourcing and administrative services provider announced it is opening an additional call center in Managua.
The new call center will serve American English and Spanish speaking consumers.
The 1,951 m2 facility will add more than 450 agents to the established Sitel base in Nicaragua, thus reaching a total of nearly 3,000 employees in the country.
El Salvador is located close to the United States and Canada and in their same time zone, and offers competitive prices when compared to neighbors Mexico, Panamá or Costa Rica.
Such conditions make it an attractive location for outsourcing services, call centers and BPO. Still, El Salvador has much to do to take advantage of these conditions.
El Salvador was launched as an outsourcing destination in the 2004-2005 period, when Dell and Sykes started operations in the country. At that time, the jobs generated by the industry went from 1,000 to over 9,000 in 2010, a real testament to the attractiveness of the country as an outsourcing destination. There are currently 38 centers in El Salvador (including two finance-specialized BPOs), out of which 20 are working almost exclusively with offshore clients.