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Fear of job losses from US call center outsourcing to Latin America is much ado about nothing
Research from independent market analysis firm Datamonitor (DTM.L) concludes that the fear of job losses from the US to Latin America is much ado about nothing. In a new report entitled, �Call Center Outsourcing in Latin America and the Caribbean to 2008�, Datamonitor reveals that 12,900 customer service positions are outsourced from the United States and Europe into Latin America. To put this into perspective, there are 2.86mn call center agent positions* (APs) in the United States. Only a fraction, 10,600 (0.4%) are outsourced from the United States to Latin America - mainly from financial services, telecommunications and technology firms. By 2008 Datamonitor expects 25,100 APs � still just 0.9% of the US AP total - to be outsourced from the United States to Latin America.
According to Datamonitor, the Latin American call center market is the fastest growing region in the world, spearheaded by Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Currently it has over 336,000 agent positions in 5,100 call centers. Datamonitor expects call centers and APs in Latin America will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4% and 16.8% respectively to total 11,900 call centers and 730,000 APs by 2008. By comparison and over the same period, Datamonitor expects APs in Asia Pacific (APAC) to grow at a CAGR of 15.1%, and 7.1% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) compared to less than 1% in the United States.
The growing purchase power of the Latino population in the United States has not escaped the attention of corporate firms. Improved levels of customer service and the labor arbitrage fuels both outsourcing and expansion of US-based customer service operations to Latin America. The 2002 US census reported that the US Latino population is now not only the largest minority in the United States but also possesses an estimated $454bn of buying power. Furthermore, a study conducted by the Pew Charitable Trust revealed that each year, immigrants send $24.5bn in cash to their families and relatives in Latin America and that by the end of 2004 that figure will grow to $30bn.
�US corporations have just begun to tap into the buying power that their Latino customers already posses by offering Spanish-language customer service. Not only are Latinos fueling offshore call center investment in Mexico, but as companies add capacity to serve Latinos they could be a more powerful consumer than previously expected,� says Mark Best, Datamonitor technology analyst and author of the report.
Datamonitor expects that a total of 23,000 offshore call center APs will be outsourced from the US and Europe to Mexico and Argentina by 2008.Both destinations are proving to be popular nearshore and offshore components to an outsourcing strategy for clients with significant amounts of bilingual English and Spanish calling. Most calling from Europe originates in Spain and Portugal although there is a small fraction from Germany and Italy. The lion�s share of offshore calling in Mexico is from the US �primarily �press 2 for Spanish service�. Argentina�s location 3 hours ahead of the US Eastern seaboard makes it an ideal destination for outsourcing from the US. In fact, some outsourcers prefer to route English-language calls to Argentina instead of India.
Mr Best concludes:
�Those outsourcers that can handle English and Spanish calling have begun to leverage labor arbitrage found throughout Latin American � especially Mexico and Argentina � into a comprehensive nearshore and offshore outsourcing strategy. English-language calling from the US to Latin American outsourced call centers can be as high as 60% with 40% devoted to Spanish-language callers from the US. Latin American call center attrition rates range between 30% in Chile and Mexico to 15% in Argentina and Brazil compared to 90% in the US. The hourly wage for a bilingual agent can be as low as $2.00 an hour. In order to survive in Latin America, outsourcers need to capture a portion of outsourcing from the United States and Europe.�
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