As Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) continues to thrive in the Philippines, various sectors become increasingly responsive to the needs of this industry. In fact, the education sector and the government are adopting measures to support Philippine outsourcing by developing initiatives and design curriculums meant to equip graduates with sufficient competencies essential for the continued success of the industry.

            A case in point is the creation of a talent working-group meant to offer insights on labor and employment market trends, issues and directions, and plays "applicants' advocate" role during the design and testing of talents. CHED, DepEd, TESDA, and the umbrella association of outsourcing firms in the country, BPA/P (Business Processing Association of the Philippines) spearhead the campaign in preparing students to be ready for possible employment once they graduate.

            Aside from these, there are also partnerships between companies and universities in the pursuit of modernizing the curriculum to be more industry relevant. One school in Makati is currently strengthening its use of the English language by transforming the call center English program into a required English conversation class. Another school responded by way of providing a call center elective to graduating students wherein those who pass are guaranteed with call center jobs after graduation.

The various government agencies and educational institutions initiated the said activities the moment they found out that graduates are actually not equipped enough for them to qualify for employment in BPOs. Research studies show that out of the 400,000 fresh college graduates every year, only a quarter are proficient in the command of the English language, and are eligible to work in call centers and various BPOs. There is a glaring discrepancy between the jobs the industry can provide and the pool of workforce produced every year by college institutions. The industry can provide 600,000 new jobs by 2010. This can never be filled up by the few qualified graduates at hand.

For the mean time, various efforts are being adopted in order to improve the employability of graduates. The outsourcing industry provides a remarkable number of opportunities. Therefore, it is worthwhile to know that the government and the concerned sectors are finding ways in order to meet the said demand. After all, those efforts are for the benefit of all; on the part of the firms who are seeking assistance, and on the side of a nation where unemployment remains a pressing issue.

The thin supply of talented workforce remains a crucial issue especially for a fast growing industry. The Philippine business process outsourcing industry is said to have a shortage when it comes to the supply of savvy and eligible manpower. For instance, call centers are maximizing efforts in order to retain talent as turnover becomes a growing problem in this service-oriented industry. It has always been reiterated in various researches that there is a shallow talent pool for Philippine BPOs. Worse, the increasing attrition rate aggravates such condition. Statistics would show that the industry has a relatively high attrition rate of 20 percent annually compared to other industries which experience turn-over in a low single digit. Fifty-one percent of those who leave call centers eventually leave the industry for good.

The high level of attrition rate can be attributed to employee dissatisfaction. This issue lies on the fact that business firms like BPOs are naturally inclined to cut costs. A back clash happens when employees' compensation and overall working conditions are the ones hit by cost-cutting. Hence, as a reasonable reaction, it would be understandable that talented employees leave after a considerable time of working due to dissatisfaction and their dire need for better opportunities. For this reason, it won't be difficult to address such problem.

RP call centers were told to go beyond cost saving by the Call Center Association of the Philippines. Asia-Pacific Research also reminds them to convert themselves from doing cost-saving options into a primary avenue for revenue generation. In this case, it would just be a matter of strengthening company services like sales and consultancy particularly their customer care team.

Other suggestions are the following: the industry needs a culture that people would want to be a part of; call center offices need to have gyms, spas, rest areas and the like to take care of employees; and company policies may adopt more flexible working conditions like having home-based agents.

Those are just some of the suggestions that may benefit the industry and curb the issue on attrition. Perhaps, if these are properly practiced and applied, I don't think companies will still lose grip of their talented employees. After all, these are not meant to merely benefit the employees alone. Rather, they are ultimately meant to boost the outsourcing industry in the end.

Among all the countries in the world, Philippines is cited as one of the best place for outsourcing. Experts asserted that it is due to the counties well educated, language wise and IT-skilled workforce. As a third world country, a lot of business professional are uncertain how Philippines has attained its position in the outsourcing world, Yet somehow Philippines get away with it and became one of the hot spots to outsource.

Once recognized for its great agricultural land and over seas workers, Philippines are now indulging to IT business trend, and somehow became one of the favorite destinations for multinational companies in offshore outsourcing. Due to the country's high literacy and English proficient, Philippines is also suited for call-centers, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). 

The land was once colonized by the Spaniards, and Americans, Philippines has turn it to its advantage, making it a culturally open society, a clear advantage over its rivals in the outsourcing trend. As a democratic country its people are more open to different influences from different cultures, thus making Filipinos adapt to foreign cultures easily. 

As a paradise for outsourcer around the globe, the country and its people will surely benefit from it. If questions are raise on how Philippines stands in the outsourcing market, its assets speaks for itself. No need to doubt or debate, Philippines is the best when it comes to outsourcing.