Dallas Forum Looks to Answer Why Jamaica is Burning Up BPO

The third-largest English speaking country in the Americas is turning out to be a home-run for BPO operators who continue to participate in one of the Nearshore’s most notable success stories over the last few years.

The nation in question is, of course, Jamaica. The industry that is thriving is based around omni-channel services, from simple customer care to more complex IT help desk, outbound telesales and collections.

Nearshore Americas and JAMPRO, the leading investment agency for the island, are organizing a special breakfast forum on Dec. 5th in Dallas to explore the roadmap Jamaica has followed in order to emerge as a choice destination.

“Jamaica’s BPO emergence did not happen by accident. Many years of forethought and collaboration among private and public leaders and entities enabled the right foundation to be built. And from that, the industry has flourished well beyond what many had expected,” says Nearshore Americas’ Kirk Laughlin, who will serve as host of the breakfast forum.

Claude Duncan, Vice President, Sales and Promotions, JAMPRO, Miro Batista, President of Latin America for Alorica, and Laughlin will present individually and also participate in an interactive panel. Some of the discussion points during the breakfast include:

• The positioning of Jamaica vs. other Nearshore and Offshore market.
• Case study: Alorica’s experiences in Jamaica
• Site selection insider: The real metrics and factors leading to success.
• Workforce planning: Scalability, language strengths and overall competitiveness.

The breakfast forum is designed specifically for site selector representatives, enterprise sourcing leaders and heads of contact center operations.

As of June this year, the BPO industry of Jamaica employs more than 26,000 people across the island, with global service providers –– including Conduent, Sutherland Global, Alorica, and Hinduja Global Services – going on to expand operations.

US BPO provider IBEX Global also recently unveiled  a 1,000-seat facility in Kingston as the company’s regional headquarters.

Jamaica’s strengths include some industry leading training programs to develop human capital, an active industry advocacy group, progressive programs to encourage more tech park development, expansive free trade zones, low wages, and cultural alignment with US customers.

Both Montego Bay and Kingston remain the leading cities supporting services.  Kingston was named the Nearshore City of the Year following substantial growth in the number of call center companies.

As recently as last month, the country unveiled plans to launch a state-of-the-art technology park in the Southern coastal city of Portmore. With 750,000 square feet of office space, the facility is expected to create 20,000 jobs for local communities.

This came barely months after the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) announced plans to build the island’s largest technology park in Saint Catherine.

These days, there are numerous opportunities for Jamaican youths to learn BPO skills, with institutions like the University of the West Indies Open Campus (UWIOC) chipping in to increase the country’s BPO talent pool.

Find out more information about the event and register for it here.