Outsourcing Is Intensified During Pandemic

When the pandemic brought by the COVID-19 erupted in 2020 and still affecting many parts of the world until now, outsourcing customer service became deeply appreciated and used by companies to achieve cost-efficiency and flexibility. For those who still don’t know about outsourcing (is there still one who doesn’t know?), it is an agreement between two companies– the business owner and the outsourcing firm — in which the product owner contracts a service of the outsourcing company to be responsible for a planned or existing task that can be done internally. Though it only started to boom in the 80s and turned out to be the lifeline of many startups, struggling, and even big companies, outsourcing customer support is already existed before the emergence of the Internet and modern technology.

The term “outsourcing” (which originated from the two words outside resourcing) emerged not later than 1981. The economist says the strategy has emerged since the time of the Second World War. It often involves the transferring of a business process, mainly the non-core tasks of a business such as Human Resources, administrative functions, customer service, and many more. From then, outsourcing provides a significant and positive effect on many companies and helps them run smoothly.

At present, outsourcing customer service controlled the international e-retailers. This strategy started from local outsourcing (outsourcing to the companies inside a country) until it spread to the neighboring countries or the nearshoring outsourcing. From then, it penetrated the world when companies from western countries like the US and the European countries outsource their business tasks to the outsourcing partners in Asian countries such as the Philippines. This time, it is called offshore outsourcing.

Now that the world economy is bombarded with challenges like economic difficulties inflicted by the recession, inflation, and the coronavirus pandemic, you might probably think if there is a bright future in outsource customer service?

According to some BPO authorities, the future of the outsourcing industry is stable and prospering. This forecast is proven to be true in the time of pandemic when many businesses were severely affected by the helpless situation and forced to shut down. And the outsourcing industry continues to run and gives more job opportunities.

One good example is outsourcing in the Philippines, particularly outsourcing customer service. Despite the sad reality that many companies from different industries declared insolvency because of the recurring lockdowns that lasted for more than a year, the Business Process Outsourcing companies stayed strong. The call center employees did not aggravate the number of jobless Filipinos in the country because many countries from different parts of the world continue to outsource their customer service. In this way, companies can still extend their assistance to their customers regarding their issues and concerns.

Outsource customer service offers various benefits that make more companies apply it. The main reason why outsourcing is popular is that it can save you from many costly expenses, such as labor, operational, and other overheads.

Certainly, the outsourcing industry is seeing a bright and potential future in the business and economy.