Call Center Industry in India Vs. Philippines

A call center is a place where calls are directed and often a person is able help with technical support inquiries, telemarketing and disaster recovery services. Also, companies are expanding the way they communicate with customers, so these call centers not only deal with calls, but also offer support through email and online chat. More companies have begun to outsource their call center support jobs to places like India and the Philippines because they can offer cheaper, around-the-clock service, they speak English and there are a fairly large number of skilled laborers that can fill these positions.

Skilled Workers in India

India’s population is filled with skilled workers, especially in technological fields that include computer science. India prides itself on encouraging students to enter engineering and technology fields. India is home to several institutes, including the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology. These educational facilities have allowed India to turn out many college graduates who have a strong background in engineering, technology and computer science. These college graduates have made it easier for American software and hardware computer companies to outsource phone support to India.

Skilled Workers in the Philippines

There are fewer skilled workers in the Philippines than India. Although the Philippines is now turning out several thousand college graduates a year, this is still not as many as India because of the population ratio. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Philippines (97 million as of July 2009) has a far smaller population than India (1.15 billion as of July 2009).

Seasonal Effects in the Philippines

Every year the Philippines goes through a typhoon season. This season has been known to cause political distress in the country, and at times even leads to coup attempts. Most companies avoid outsourcing to countries in political distress.

Staff Turnover

There is a smaller turnover ratio in the Philippines than there is in India. This is due to a smaller number of higher paying business development and computer tech jobs in the Philippines.

English in the Philippines

Due to the fact that the Philippines is a former U.S. colony, the Philippines has a language advantage over India because the type of English that is taught in schools is Americanized English. Filipinos tend to speak with a more Americanized accent and it is less noticeable to Americans that they are speaking with someone from another country. English in India is taught with a British dialect.

References

• Wall Street Journal: "Outsources Call for Backup;" James Hookway; October 2004
• Outsource India: Call Centers in India
• CBS News: "Call Center Jobs Drifting Overseas;" Bootie Cosgrove-Mather; December 2003
• Department of Science and Technology: Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure
• Indian Insitute of Technology Kharagpur: Institute History