Govt offers support to find workers for local BPO industry

…as sector faces labour shortages

Grappling with widespread labour shortages, the Guyana Government has stepped in to help the local Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector find workers.
The commitment was made by Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr Ashni Singh, on Thursday when he met with several companies within the local BPO industry, to discuss its prospects and to get a better understanding of the challenges they face.
The engagement comes on the heels of the recent scaling back of operations of one large operator in the sector, and the closure of one other.

Recognising the BPO sector’s potential to create thousands of jobs for Guyanese countrywide, the Finance Minister invited several companies still operating here to provide the Government with a greater insight of the developments in the industry.
A statement from the Finance Ministry on Friday stated that during the meeting, the companies noted the principal challenge of attracting and retaining talent, particularly given the rapid emergence of jobs in other sectors of Guyana.
There was a unanimous recognition of the tremendous opportunities for expansion, with the potential for new clients being attracted to Guyana and additional job opportunities being created, in particular, jobs that are especially popular with the female workforce and that provide an entry point into the world of work in a technology-based environment.
The companies also indicated a strong desire to partner with the Government to expand their footprint in the country, attract additional clients, and create additional jobs.
In this regard, Minister Singh discussed initiatives to support the sector, including the launch of a series of job fairs and public communication campaigns, to bring about greater awareness of the sector, given the number of jobs that are potentially available in several locations across the country.
The senior Minister pointed out that Government recognises the constant changes in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, and the need to evolve the model of call-centres from an entry level one providing telemarketing services, to a contact centre model providing more value-added jobs.
Minister Singh, who was joined by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Office for Investment, Dr Peter Ramsaroop, further reaffirmed Government’s commitment to continue to work closely with the BPO sector to support its development and expansion, and reiterated that Guyana remains an attractive destination for BPO business.
France-headquartered call centre, Teleperformance, has recently downsized its operations in Guyana. In fact, the company has already laid off hundreds of workers and closed its Camp Street, Georgetown location.
Only on Thursday, Vice President (VP) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo assured that the Guyana Government is committed to helping those persons who will be genuinely affected by the company’s downsizing.
Jagdeo said the company has informed Guyanese officials that its operations are being negatively impacted by workers’ absenteeism, lack of punctuality and in some cases, fraud.
“They operate in a very competitive sector and they have clients abroad and if nobody is there, you can’t keep the quality of the service up… Like a lot of people apparently are finding jobs elsewhere, so a lot are leaving or some are showing up late and stuff like that,” he noted.
The VP said the Government will help Guyanese who will be genuinely impacted at the company scales back its operations.
“For those who genuinely are affected and want to work, we would engage them,” Jagdeo said, noting that “we believe that the economy is kicking to such an extent that we can easily find alternate employment for people who may be affected”.
Teleperformance is still operating at its Middle and Thomas Streets, Georgetown location.