South Africa is fast becoming the new call centre destination of choice for large international firms, instead of countries like India and the Philippines, where the industry is well developed and thriving.

Workforce solutions provider Manpower South Africa MD Lyndy van den Barselaar says this is because South Africa is regarded as a port of entry into the African continent, which is becoming more attractive to foreign investors and multinationals.

“The presence of larger brand names that have call centres in South Africa is helping other international organisations take note of South Africa’s call centre landscape.”

Van den Barselaar adds that while government support has assisted in attracting foreign investment to the industry through the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) incentives, it is important to increase this support and involvement.

“A stronger relationship needs to be developed between government, the private sector and investors. The Philippines is doing exceptionally well in the BPO space, and South Africa aspires to adopt the model implemented in the Philippines,” she says.

NATURAL ADVANTAGES
There is also the time zone advantage that South Africa has with regard to Europe, as well as a neutral accent, which gives the country preference over some other destinations in the Asia Pacific region, Orange Business Services director and chief technology officer Mark McCallum tells Engineering News.

He adds that the cost of labour is favourable in the country and government also offers incentives that make it attractive for companies to establish businesses in the local market.

“South Africa is fairly advanced with respect to technology, and infrastructure and is well deregulated, compared with some other low-cost destinations.”

McCallum notes that the industry is growing rapidly, especially in the BPO space: “BPO hubs are forming and growing in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg and there is merger and acquisition activity in this space, with some large multinational BPOs partnering or acquiring local players,” he says.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies launched the revised Business Process Services (BPS) incentive at the South African High Commission, in London, last year.

Davies said the previous BPO and BPS programme, which had been laucnhed in 2011, was hugely successful in terms of meeting the objectives of the DTI.

"More than 9 000 jobs have been created and BPS is a key sector for attracting investment and creating new jobs, especially for the 18 to 35 age group, where job creation is most needed,” he said.

He added that 75% of foreign investment in the call centre sector originated from the UK, with voice services accounting for 80% of all BPO work conducted in South Africa.

NEW SUPPORT PACKAGE
Davies also stated that the reviewed incentive had taken South Africa's increasing maturity, in terms of the services offered, into account.

"We have noticed that South Africa is increasingly being asked to provide more complex back-office process services. Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) and shared-services subsectors are beginning to expand as South Africa proves its capability and capacity to provide such services."

A key difference of the updated BPS incentive is its division into Tier 1, which deals with non-complex work, and the Tier 2, which involves complex work. This distinction was made to attract more complex work, such as LPO, by offering a higher incentive for using and employing a higher skilled workforce.

Investors and South African companies running BPS operations had requested that the duration of the reviewed incentive be reconsidered. The previous incentive, which ended in September last year, was offered over three years to companies creating more than 50 offshore jobs.

“The companies presented a compelling argument that, as many of the [call centre] industry's contracts ran for five years, it would, therefore, provide a level of comfort for investors if the incentive was to also run for five years.”
Davies added that the review by global services advisory and research company Everest Global took note of this and that the new BPS incentive would, therefore, also run for five years until March 2019.

South Africa's value proposition, which included a large skills pool of English-language speakers, the depth of skills available, the cultural affinity with the UK and time zone compatibility, had continued to attract new investors, with existing investors also expanding.

Davies further pointed out that the BPS incentive played a critical role in reducing the cost gap between South Africa and its competitors, arguing that the South African value proposition was now even more compelling, as it enabled local companies bidding for UK contracts to offer a more cost- competitive proposal when compared with other offshore destinations.

TECHNOLOGY & JOBS
McCallum says that the integration of cloud-based services, which enable call centres to be more flexible, is also becoming a prominent trend in the industry. For example, agents can use any personal computer, home or mobile phone to access technology using a platform situated anywhere in the world.

Making the workforce a more global and location-independent element dramatically expands the labour base available to a company, potentially decreasing costs while increasing the quality of staff.

Additionally, analytics will be further expanded to enhance customer engagement and experience, McCallum adds, highlighting that big data and analytics related technologies will also become more critical in building customer intimacy.

Van den Barselaar notes that South Africa’s economy is plagued by high unemployment figures, which present a challenge to the thousands of job-seeking school leavers every year. The importance of the South African call centre industry could be a possible solution to this problem, she adds.

Most call centres offer training and upscaling programmes, rather than indicating a preference for experienced candidates – unlike many industries in South Africa, she points out.

“The industry contributes to creating employment for school leavers who have little work experience and who might not be unable to afford a tertiary education.”

Van den Barselaar adds that the call centre industry requires candidates to have good communication, interpersonal and basic computer skills, as well as the ability to speak more than one European language.

The South African call centre industry has shown an 18% year-on-year growth from 2010 to 2012, aiming to create an additional 30 000 additional jobs by 2015, she comments, adding that the largest province for call centres is the Western Cape, followed by Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal

She explains that the call centre environment offers various positions for candidates aside from being an agent, including team leader, supervisor and call centre manager, as well as trainers and quality assessors.

“Call centres are necessary in many different sectors and industries in South Africa, including insurance, automotive, sales, business, financial, retail, information technology and basic services. Each industry has different requirements and opportunities for job seekers, based on their skills and experience.”

“The growth in the South African call centre industry is expected to continue, as more local and international organisations become aware of the country’s capabilities in this space,” she concludes.