Top 5 Countries in Outsourcing: How Do They Cope During Pandemic?

In our article published on January 6, 2021, we featured the top 5 countries in outsourcing customer service. Though many countries pleasantly welcome the outsourcing strategy because it gives opportunities for their economic stability and provides many job openings for their citizens, the Philippines, India, Ukraine, Brazil, and China are considered the hottest outsourcing hubs in the world. Many companies from different countries are entrusting their business tasks to the outsourcing companies in these countries. They discovered that numerous highly skilled and competent workers could help them run their companies smoothly and effectively.

However, because of the pandemic brought by the COVID-19 that we are still facing now, we know that the world’s economy has been challenged seriously. Many companies were forced to cease their operation, and numerous people are losing their jobs. Although vaccines are already proliferated in every corner of the world and millions of individuals are already vaccinated, the threat of virus is still there and we don’t exactly know when we can go back to the normal situation, especially in our economy which is one of the primary factors why we continue to live balanced and orderly.

The outsourcing industry has been affected by the pandemic as it is still not over. Somehow, the economies of the different countries are picking up their pieces and continue to revive and bounce back. 2020 was a year of unparalleled disruption as the global pandemic put the business world reeling from the shock and consequence. Now that we are in the middle of 2021, we want to update you on how these top 5 countries in outsourcing face the battle against the pandemic.

1. Philippines — according to IT Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president and CEO Ray Untal, the BPO, IT, and Shared Services industries in the country lost a 120 billion opportunity in 2020. There are many factors of these losses, such as global slowdown due to the pandemic, business disruption of key services points in the west, and investments that were halted due to the economic situation. However, outsourcing of customer support is still booming as many international companies continue to entrust their customer service needs to the hardworking and efficient Filipino call center agents. The quarantine has been eased to General Community Quarantine with some restrictions in Metro Manila and neighboring cities. The work-from-home setup is still applied by almost 70% of companies and employees are already adjusted to work in the comfort of their houses. And international clients are restoring their outsourcing in the Philippines.
2. India — the information about the outbreak and worsening situation of the coronavirus pandemic in India is all over the news. And it has affected the outsourcing industry in the country. Though the majority of the BPO employees are working at home, due to the severe proliferation of the virus, many employees were inflicted with COVID-19, and it affected their work. Some of them forcefully left their jobs due to health risks. But with the help of the government and the unity of the Indian nationals, they will overcome this worse scenario, and the road to recovery is possible. The outsourcing industry will revive as many countries are still trusting them.
3. Ukraine — before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the IT market in Ukraine had a stable increase rate yearly at 26% and generated over $4 billion in revenue. Now that the pandemic is not yet over, the local and international IT industries have to adapt to the new normal. At the onset of the pandemic, Ukrainian companies had managed to survive. Outsourcing clients continued to come. The work-from-home setup is also applied, although the transition became a steep process for many IT service providers. The benefits of working remotely, such as cost-cutting, flexibility, and productivity became apparent.
4. Brazil — there was a time that the pandemic in this country worsened because the government itself was not intensifying the global health protocols to hamper the spread of the virus. And outsourcing companies were also affected as clients decided to stop outsourcing due to the international economic difficulty. Now that we are in the middle of 2021, the outsourcing industry in Brazil is in the recovery stage.
5. China — we all know that the COVID-19 was came from this country. China’s economy was, of course, the very first to be severely affected by the pandemic. Many countries had decided to cut their business ties with China. And the outsourcing industry is one of the most affected. But this 2021, it is unbelievable and impressive that China is one of the countries that was able to immediately recover.

All of us earnestly dream that the pandemic brought by coronavirus will soon be over. But one thing is for sure, the outsource customer service will never stop as it is the bridge between your company and the customers.