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Will StarTek's Gamble of a Second Call Center in Honduras Pay Off?

By Mini Swamy, TMCnet Contributor

Not content to rest on the laurels of success with its previous call centers in Latin and Central America, StarTek, a major BPO player, has been strategizing to further expand its near-shore footprint. This time it chose the city of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, to add another center, the first one being in San Pedro Sula, also in that region.

StarTek defends the opening of a second call center in Honduras by noting that it is in response to large client demand. Obviously the BPO player believes that Central America, especially Honduras, is a delivery location of choice for end-users in the U.S. The fact that it chose Tegucigalpa to better its fortunes is testament to the value it perceives for money and volume of quality labor that can be found in Honduras.

Tegucigalpa is indeed well positioned for further expansion in near-shore outsourcing. It is one of the largest cities in Central America, has a level of bilingual schools similar to that of San Pedro Sula, has 12 universities, and is easily as good as other major cities in the region.

With two major hubs from which contact center services can be delivered, Honduras will enjoy a major advantage over other countries, where there is typically just one urban center.

Perhaps the absence of large call center players in Honduras, (which means no stiff competition), access to a large, educated workforce, and its own success with its BPO delivery center in San Pedro Sula, were factors that triggered StarTek to ambitiously launch another call center in the same region. And this may well work given that Honduras is rapidly becoming the “go-to” country within the region. 

It should also be noted that the vendor community today is a willing to take the rather calculated risk of opening call centers in places where “few people have ventured before.” StarTek, with the ready advantage of a flourishing call center, can in no time establish its brand image in Tegucigalpa as well. It’s confident of itself and confident that Honduras will become a ‘central point’ in Central America.

And, if that happens, it will benefit StarTek’s own operations as well those of enterprise clients, by lowering costs and providing access to quality pools of labor. Moreover, if StarTek’s gamble pays off, firms not having a presence in Honduras will try to get an entry there. But, by then, StarTek will hopefully be in the driver’s seat.