The call center industry has created a big impact in many Third World countries. Millions of people have benefited from the higher salaries and employment that have come from this industry. One such country that is reaping the benefits of outsourcing is Nicaragua. Located just 2,000 miles south of the US, this country is cashing in on the BPO boom.
Thousands of people with bilingual skills have found employment during the last few years. The average salary earned by these call centers employees is $500 - which is way higher than the average salary of $150 per month. This has led to better standards of living for many families and it is proving to be a boon for the Nicaraguan economy.
There are four major call center companies in Nicaragua and they are Accedo Technologies, Stream Global Services, Sitel and Almori. These companies provide a range of services such as chat, answering emails, accounting, back-office processing, call support and graphic design. Their clients are some of the biggest names in the US retail industry such as Walmart, Target (News - Alert), Kohls, Sprint, Choice Hotels, CapitalOne, Careerbuilder.com, match.com and Medicaid.
Despite all the advantages of outsourcing for both the U.S. retail companies and Nicaraguans, there are security concerns cropping up. This is mainly because the hiring requirements are fairly relaxed. Any one with basic English knowledge is hired because the industry is growing at a rapid pace and there is a heightened demand for English speakers. In this mad hiring rush, many deportees are also hired because they have been in the U.S. and can speak English. While hiring deportees is not bad by itself, employing criminals who have been in U.S. jails is a big security risk because the call center business revolves around sensitive information such as social security numbers and bank details.
This idea is refuted by the hiring managers of some of these call center companies who claim that they have a stringent hiring procedure that includes criminal and background checks. But, they have also accepted that there were security breaches in their companies, though it was resolved early.
Going forward, Nicaraguan companies should focus on strengthening their security and their hiring process to prevent any major security breach.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi