BPO potential unrealised

While outsourcing continues to be lucrative and profitable for both ends of transaction, industries engaged in Business Process Outsourcing find themselves unequipped to address skills required to relish the idea of expanding into a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Business Process Outsourcing or BPO is growing at a massive rate across the world but Bangladesh’s growth in this sector is being choked due what the sector people say to skill gap, talent crunch and lack of public patronisation.

A BPO firm usually provides customer service on behalf of various organisations through telecommunication and internet services that has grown into a potential full-blown outsourcing industry.

A rapidly growing business and profession in the world is popularly known as call centre, business insiders said. 

BPOs or call centres work in two ways -- one is voice-based and the other is non-voice based. Voice-based outsourcing or call centre is the service that people take or give through phone calls. This can be done in two ways - one is ‘inbound call’, the other is ‘outbound call’.

In addition to voice-based services, call centres provide a solution to document management. Consultation services, database management, bookkeeping, document scanning, e-publishing are also done through the call centres.

Besides, the centres provide telemarketing service and manage various charitable funds. Debt collection and market research are among other non-voice services.

The overall BPO services also include lead generation. dropshipping and affiliate marketing, IT support,  customer relationship management support, graphic and image processing, legal process outsourcing, engineering and architectural services, online education, training and courses, software management services, human resources outsourcing, virtual assistance, knowledge process outsourcing, email and chat support, financial process, social media and digital marketing, medical scribing or scripting, system administration, networking, security and many more.

Billion-dollar market

The Grand View Research, an India and US-based market research and consulting firm, registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, however, has estimated that the global BPO market size was $232.32 billion in 2020, which is expected to reach $245.91 billion in 2021. The revenue forecast for 2028 is $435.89 billion.
According to the Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO), Bangladesh has a market share of just 1 per cent or $600 million only.

Starting in 2009 with 12 companies and 900 people, the local BPO business saw significant growth in 2013-14, creating jobs for thousands of people.
According to the BACCO, 60,000 Bangladeshis are presently working in the industry, which has only potential to grow manifold.

“We are working with the government to take our turnover to $1 billion by 2025 and create employment for 40,000 more people,” it said.

Some 300 companies listed by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) are currently involved in the BPO business. Of them, 170 are the BACCO members.

Officials said a BTRC licence is required only for voice-based service as there are some rules and regulations in place for doing Voice over IP (VoIP) business. For non-voice-based work, such as image processing or data entry works, a BTRC licence is not compulsory.

According to the statistics provided by the BACCO, 27 per cent of its members provide services for local companies, 19 per cent work for international companies and 54 per cent for both local and international companies.

BACCO’s Secretary General Towhid Hossain told The Business Post many large-scale companies in Bangladesh, especially telecom companies and some other multinationals like Transcom, Samsung, Unilever, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Uber, Akash DTH Beximco, and some hospitals like Aysha Memorial Specialised Hospital, are among their major clients.

360-degree activities

The BACCO observed that a 360-degree activity can be done in the BPO sector. Language skill is the most common prerequisite for working in the sector, but if anyone is not skilled enough with language or cannot speak English at all, they can also work in some capacities like typing and data entry. Even a visually impaired person can also lend his or her voice to certain services.

“Although this business initially started as a call centre in our country, it is now known to the world as a contact centre,” said Shafquat Haider, managing director, CIPROCO Computers Ltd, a company involved in BPO business.
“The call centres only provide call receiving or calling services. It is only 10 per cent of the total BPO business and the rest are of different types. One does not need a master’s or PhD to work for a call centre. All you need is proficiency in English and some training.”

Businesspeople involved in the sector are earnestly seeking policy support from the government to give the potential sector a boost.

The support includes a suitable curriculum in schools and colleges, waiver of VAT and taxes, removing existing legal barriers and promotion of Bangladesh’s BPO businesses in foreign countries.

Developing English language skill

Musnad E Ahmed, chief executive officer, SkyTech Solutions, told The Business Post that the authorities must emphasise developing manpower with English language skill to tap into the potential of the sector internationally.
“We have no problem in providing services to local companies. But English is a must for thriving internationally,” said Musnad.

The businessman cited the example of the Philippines and India, which have a greater market share for the English proficiency of their citizens. They are earning foreign currency sitting at home comfortably.
“Here we need skilled manpower. The BPO industry is growing bigger and bigger. There is a need to emphasize conversational English in the curriculum,” he said.

XubiSoft Limited Managing Director Fahad Hasan echoed the same as Musnad, saying Bangladesh should follow the trail of the Philippines and India and train its people accordingly. 
Referring to India and the Philippines, he said they have become a hub for BPO business as there are many fluent English-speaking boys and girls in their country.

“We don’t have it. The government is providing training or modules. That’s fine for domestic use. However, for the international call centre, we have to organise a new training session,” suggested Farhad.

Follow the trail of the Philippines and India

Philippinos and Indians work over the time zone. At night, they are busy in this sector. They have developed infrastructure for it.

“It is high time that we did the same to keep pace with the global race,” according to Farhad.
The National Association of Software and Solutions Companies (NASSCOM) -- a not-for-profit industry association in India, mentioned in its website that 3000+ members represent a $194 billion industry in the country and employ 4.47 million professionals, contributing nearly 8 per cent to India’s GDP.

According to the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), BPO generated 1.23 million direct jobs and 4.08 million indirect jobs in the country. The sector is the significant contributor to the local economy, with the country earning approximately $25 billion every year, which is 13 per cent of the global market share.

Imaging technology service

While English is necessary for most of the services, Kawser Ahmed Nirob, managing director and CEO of The KOW Company ltd, said some jobs do not require language proficiency but other important skills.
“The big online retailers or online companies in the world are based in the USA or Europe, we process their images. We call it imaging technology,” he said.

Citing the example of Amazon, which uploads millions of images of different products to its website every day, Kawser said Bangladesh is earning about $25 million annually alone by providing image editing or image technology services and the return from the image processing services can be doubled in the next two years.
“You don’t need to know much English for image processing. If anyone wants to work here, then they need some basic computer and image-related software knowledge,” he said.

Some 5,000 Bangladeshis are now involved in the image processing sector and they earn Tk 90,000 to Tk 1 lakh monthly depending on the company. Many freelancers are also working in image processing.

English language is not a barrier to this sector. The students are also able to work as a part-timer. This market provides a huge opportunity for young people.

“If the image processing skill of the Bangladeshis can be highlighted or branded by the government, many people will be benefited from it,” added Kawser.

Training for freelancers

Imtiaz Ilahi, managing director, Graphic People, said they usually do digital marketing, develop and localise websites. They also do email marketing where they highlight product features.
Speaking about the challenges for their sector, Imtiaz said the main obstacle they face is lack of skilled manpower and language barrier. 

“Many people have language problem. Because you want to work, you have to talk to the client a lot. You have to communicate with them. So, you need to be very skilled with communication,” said Imtiaz.
Dipak Ranjan Saha, chief operating officer, Shehala IT Ltd, said they usually work with the webpage design and development, graphics, mobile applications and 3D design.

“Once a company gets skilled manpower, all it needs is a computer, a table, a chair and a good internet connection,” he said.

Freelancer Md Nazzasi Islam Chowdhury, who works as a graphics designer, web developer and digital marketing solution providers, said he took part in a training programme, where some 400 people wanted to join but only 100 were selected. Communication problem came in the way.

Nazzasi said freelancers usually upload their profile to two platforms called Dribbble.com and Behance.net and when clients knock there, they give a link to their work.

“Our biggest challenge here is the communication skill. Besides, people go to the market without proper experience. We need to develop both communication skill and experience,” suggested Nazzasi.
The freelancer is the only one to survive into the market from a group of 24 people, who took training along with him, while his other peers failed to make any solid footing.

“After giving training, the government should monitor why many are not getting success and take proper measures,” he said.

According to Freelancer Abir Mahmud, the most prominent freelance marketplace in the world is upwork.com, Fiverr.com and Freelancer.com. PeoplePerHour.com is also another popular platform.
Sharing his experience, Abir said he mostly works for online marketing through Search Engine Optimisation in platforms like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google AdWords, where companies promote their products.

Problem in payment gateway

The problem in payment gateway eats up two to three working days which needs to be addressed in no time to reap advantages readily.

SkyTech Solutions’ Musnad E Ahmed said though they did not face any problem in receiving foreign currency, they face problems in paying through foreign currency.

“Many times, we take advance payment after getting a work order. If we fail to complete the work timely for some reasons, we need to refund the money but very often we face problem in making the transaction,” he added.

Freelancer Nazzasi pointed out that it is very difficult to remit from Bangladesh.
“As a freelancer, the task is more complicated. Banking complexity is less when freelancers bring remittances, but it is more when making payment overseas,” he maintained.

Sometimes it so happens that jobs need to be shared with freelancers from other countries, but due to complicated payment system, revenue cannot be shared which results in losing those jobs.

Nazzasi urged the authorities to allow platform like Pay-Pal to enable freelancers to share their revenue.
Money transaction system in the Philippines and India are relatively simple. There is also Pay-Pal, which is liked by the clients a lot. Transactions can be done there very easily while in Bangladesh it is not easy.

Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Md Serajul Islam said in order to prevent money-laundering from Bangladesh, banks have been instructed to stay vigilant about foreign transactions.

He, however, said in order to facilitate foreign investment, the central bank is simplifying the rules and regulations for foreign money transection. The matter is being circulated from time to time.

Impact of Covid-19

BACCO Secretary General Towhid, who is also the managing director of FIFOTech, said in the last 14 to 15 months, there have been some changes in the dimension of BPO business due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As our international clients are also affected by the pandemic, we lost a lot of work. Those who were providing services to tourism, real estate, financial sector, luxury items industries, have lost their work,” he recalled.

Towhid acknowledged that work order has increased in health, e-commerce and online marketing, but insisted that the overall Bangladesh BPO sector lost about $200 million due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
“I had to pay the salary and count losses every month.  I did not furlough any of my skilled employees…the government is arranging a loan for me. But I don’t know how I will repay them. Many of our companies did not get any work order in the past five to six months.”

Despite the current downturn, Towhid sees a great prospect for the sector amid the growing digitalisation of businesses.

“The next generation will become a virtual generation, who will do everything online. We are working to reap its benefit,” he hoped.

Future challenges

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) President Syed Almas Kabir urged the BPO firms to expand their business in the local market to face future challenges.
“There are some risk factors in this sector. As automation is on the rise, Robotic Process Automation is also on the horizon. In many cases, machine is replacing human, leading to a decline in the number of call centre agents,” he said.

Kabir also urged the BPOs to seek higher value for work and engage in a decision-making process instead of just offering routine services.

“We need to do work that has greater value. One may work on an accounting system or a particular work at BPO.  It would be nice if one could get involved in a decision-making process like analysing data to determine if a client was eligible for a loan or not or whether an insurance claim should be made or not,” he said.
“If we could train our people to do data analysis or high-value work or make decisions through it, we will be able to make more money. Now if I get $15 for an hour, maybe I will get $30 for an hour then.”

Market in the Middle East

Market in the Middle East is still untapped. The madrassa students who are much better in Arabic can be trained to dominate the market of call centres in the Middle East.

The BASIS president also urged the government to pay attention in this field to explore the market in the Middle East.

To make it a national industry, Kabir urged the government to develop infrastructure and ensure good internet speed all over the country.

The main challenge is the availability of internet, he said, adding that so far, everything is Dhaka-centric, and the internet system is good here.

“But if we are to make it a national industry and if we want to set up a BPO in the suburbs at the moment, we cannot do it due to lack to optimum internet facility,” said the business tycoon.