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more than one million people and
is expected to generate $24-25bn
in revenues in 2016, up from just
$3.4bn in 2006. Despite this, the
industry employs roughly 3% of the
labour force as of end-2015 and
the country has struggled to stem
youth unemployment of 13.5% as
of July 2016. The country’s chief
selling point is a large young and
educated population that speaks
English with a neutral accent
and has a cultural affinity with
the west. By 2022, the local BPO
industry is estimated to create
an additional one million jobs
and growing its share of non-
voice services to around 33%.
POLAND
Poland is the largest BPO market
within the Central & Eastern
European Region with over
16 sizeable cities where the
outsourcing industry has been
growing since 1995 at a growth
rate of 20% per annum. Banks and
professional services companies
that have traditionally shipped
back-office work to Asia are
keen to move more complex
financial and legal tasks to
Poland – attracted by time-zone
proximity to Western capitals,
EU membership and a better
“cultural fit” with Western business
practices. Poland also follows all
European Union laws for copyright
and IP (intellectual property)
and in addition, they comply
with United States standards in
data security and IP protection.
The driving force behind Poland’
success is the strength of its
labour market. Nearly 500,000
students graduate each year
and 39% of inhabitants aged
between 25 and 34 have university
degrees. Poland’s highly revered
universities have been willing to
reshape their curriculum in order
to produce graduates with the
skills that match the requirements
of the BPO sector. Despite Poland
retaining its currency—the zloty,
its international competitiveness
has remained relatively stable over
the last few years. Despite recent
radical national and conservative
political shifts – which may have
alarmed some foreign investors—
the Hungarian example shows BPO
& SCC employers are unlikely to
be impacted by policies that still
strongly support job generating
foreign direct investment.
INDIA
India retains its title as the largest
BPO market by-far globally and
remains unmatched in terms of
scale of its vast pool of skilled
and talented human resources.
The country has 90 million
college educated workers and
462 million internet users and
with the presence of a large
English-speaking population,
flexible pricing options, fast
turnaround times, availability of
infrastructure and technological
capabilities, industry-friendly and
attractive government policies,
India continues to witness superior
levels of demand than alternative
markets like China and Mexico.
However, the attrition rate in India
remains a concern as does the
steadily increasing labour cost
base, fueled by an economy that
is forecast to grow 7.7% in 2016.
Within India there are many
second and third tier cities that are
establishing themselves as much
cheaper and more sustainable
locations for BPO operations.
BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING AND SHARED SERVICE LOCATION INDEX 2016
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