This is according to the 2006 Asian Contact Center Industry Benchmarking Report conducted by the contact research firm, callcentres.net. The sample for the study included 747 contact centers in the Philippines, India, Singapore, China, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Results from the survey reveal that the Philippines, just like the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, is still experiencing a period of strong growth in the contact center sector. In the countries studied, the estimated increase is 23 percent from last year's 576,000 seats to 704,500 in 2007.
Traditionally, the offshore outsourcing sector pushes the growth of the industry. But increasingly, servicing the domestic market is also proving to be a strong driver for growth.
'In the Philippines for example, 78 percent of the industry services the local market and 34 percent provide international service. The outsourcing sector appears to drive growth in innovation and technology adoption, and this is again led by the Philippines,' says Catriona Wallace, president of callcentres.net.
The demand is still strong for the contact center industry, and the pressure is on to sustain the growth. Other areas like South America and Europe are increasingly becoming aware of the opportunities in this sector, and they are increasingly becoming the Asia-Pacific region's competitors.
Competition from other players in the industry is not the only problem of contact center managers. Cut-throat competition in hiring new agents and the retention of agents are equally important problems.
'Fifty percent of the managers said they have big HR issues. The industry has to think of more creative ways to recruit new people. Tapping into an older workforce might be more appealing because they are not like the generation Y workforce who tend to be more prone to attrition. The question is 'where is the older workforce pool?'' Wallace says.
Majority of the agents in the Philippines are 18 to 34 years old, comprising 77 percent of the total local agents. Meanwhile, the older workforce -- aged 35 years old and above -- make-up 21 percent of the total local agents.
To increase the percentage of the older workforce, Wallace explains that contact centers need to probe into what the older workforce want in their working environment.
'These people want flexible working environments. There has been a demand from the workforce to look into the 'work from home' model. It is also a big factor in retention programs,' says Wallace.
Wallace adds that contact centers are ready for this model because the technology is already present. What's hindering the contact centers from implementing this work model is the lack of management metrics to monitor the performance of the agents.
'The flexibility of IP lets contact centers look into other areas for environment improvement. It allows contact centers to build multiple sites, but still deliver the quality of a single-site center. The technology is not the problem. The problem is when agents work from home, there can be a lot of distractions. The agents might not perform as well as they do when they are on-site,' Wallace explains.
Currently, only 6 percent of all contact centers have succeeded in implementing the work-from-home model. In these centers, only about 1 percent of the agents work from home.
'Contact centers really have to look into this model. They have to be creative in capturing the talent pool. It's a necessity if the region wants to keep up the growth,' Wallace says.