A rush for BPO careers among school leavers
Among many sectors showing exceptional growths like tourism during
past couple of years, is also the BPO sector.
The key reason behind this success is that it inherently produces
professional employment opportunities in an international setting.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is contracting certain operations
and responsibilities of specific business functions and processes like
accounting, financial analysis, customer service, legal services and
human resource services to a third-party service provider.
Usually these operations and responsibilities are from organizations
in the USA and other European countries transferred to organizations in
Asian countries like Sri Lanka.
Most students are aware of the concept of outsourcing as well as
opportunities in BPOs thanks to these concepts being included in their
school curriculum. But this awareness is mostly concentrated in and
around urban areas since these new concepts are more familiar to urban
youth segment.
One reason for it is that most of the BPO companies are operating
from Colombo and Kandy.
The younger generation who are working in this sector display a wider
skill set against their counterparts. Differences in communication
skills, IT skills and work ethics are the most obvious skills that
differentiate a BPO employee from others.
Also they are enjoying higher salaries and other benefits like
foreign trips from the day they join this sector.
These employees are preferred by any other sector as well due to
their wider skills and international exposure.
According to statistics there are about 50,000 employees working in
the entire outsourcing sector.
The Global BPO industry is estimated to be around US$ 300 billion
whereas Sri Lankan contribution is around US$ 400 million making it the
fifth largest export earner for Sri Lanka. Expectation is for the export
revenue to be US$ 1 billion by 2015 with additional 50,000 employment
opportunities.
For this goal to be realized there are many initiatives undertaken by
the government and the private sector.
During the last quarter of 2010 world's largest body for BPO training
and certifications entered to Sri Lanka with Lanka BPO Academy to
support the development initiatives for BPO industry. LBA provides
training for all prominent BPO domains like customer service,
transaction processing, back-office services and finance and accounting.
Further details can be obtained from www.lankabpoacademy.lk.
During the past year, they have being involved with major projects
which instill industry specific skills in various sectors. For example
with Ministry of Higher Education and University of Colombo, LBA is
involved with training graduates with the BPO specific skills. Also with
the National Human Resource Development Council (NHRDC) of Ministry of
Youth and Vocational training, LBA is involved in a training project.
Most of the experts in various disciplines like economy, Information
Technology, government policy etc. are expecting this sector to grow
really fast.
Hence to support the required human talent development, the LBA has
expanded its operations from Colombo to major cities like Kandy, Gampaha
and Kurunegala. So anyone in these districts also can enjoy the benefits
of BPO sector as a qualified professional. (LBA)
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