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Dex One, Yellow Pages’ publisher, will be outsourcing a huge chunk of its graphic works to the Philippines. This is good news for the world’s leading call center hub, as the country tries to intensify its efforts to also become one of the world’s major graphics and IT outsourced countries.

This move by Dex One, however, meant that layoffs of its graphic workers responsible for the visual content of the digital and print ads had to be made. The news of the layoffs was announced last year, according to Dex spokesman Tyler Gronbach.

Gronbach added that “the vast majority of the jobs are going to the Philippines, but there will be management that oversees those functions still based in the US.”
Dex One’s decision to outsource to the Philippines is part of its efforts to reach its aim of reducing its expenses this year by $100 million.

Dex One is a marketing services company in the U.S. providing print yellow pages directories, online and mobile search solutions, pay-per-click ad networks, and voice based search platforms.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firm Accenture is set to generate another 5,000 Jobs in the Philippines this year as the company adds more clients from various parts of the world to its impressive roster.

According to the BPO giant, their expansion reflects the country’s outsourcing industry outlook for the year and its goal of a 2-digit growth.

“Right now, we have more than 20,000 employees in the Philippines. Last year was a very good year for us,” Accenture Philippines BPO operations head Benedict Hernandez said in an interview.

“We should be up to 25,000 before the end of the year,” he said. Last year alone, he said the company was able to bring about 4,000 new jobs, making it one of the country’s biggest BPO firms.

An estimated 50 percent of the company’s employees in the Philippines does technology consulting, while the other 50 percent is engaged in sub-contracted services which include call-center work, accounting, healthcare and finance.

According to Hernandez, compared to other big BPO companies in the Philippines, the lion’s share of Accenture’s workforce is not made up of call center agents.

“What’s good about us is 90 percent of our BPO portfolio is in higher-value, non-voice BPO operations,” he said.

At present, the number of the company’s call center agents total to only about 1,000.

“If you look at other significant players in the Philippines, they do mostly call-center work. Our advantage is that we have the capability to grow in other professions,” he said.

Hernandez said that this model could be “what a BPO company can become.”

Branching out from simple “voice” processes to higher-value work or Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) is, after all, the next step in BPO.

And this is exactly the direction stakeholders want the industry to take, a move up the value chain by bringing more focus to other services like animation, publishing and legal services.

The country’s BPO sector currently employs 600,000 people. By 2015, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines sees this number increase to about 1.3 million.

The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry continues to grow as companies strive to become more efficient, productive, flexible, and profitable. It has achieved significant development in many fields including finance, accounting, human resources, employee training, manufacturing, property management, IT, and customer support; as well as call center functions like telemarketing, customer service, and market research. Only recently, with the global financial slowdown, an increasing number of firms have turned to the industry to weather the crisis. With cost cutting at the top of their priority lists, many companies are now considering outsourcing.

Outsourcing is a subcontracting process that involves the transfer of the administration and management of a business function (whether a process such as recruitment or infrastructure such as IT) to a third-party service provider. It is a viable option that enables companies to maximize revenue while minimizing expenses.

Outsourcing offers a number of long-term benefits for businesses:

Cost savings. The biggest benefit that firms can get while outsourcing is to be able to invest resources in cost-effective services that can offer high quality at a lower cost. Outsourcing lowers the cost of doing business since firms can save on time, manpower, infrastructure and capital expenditure. It enables the company to spend on revenue-producing activities rather than on expensive software and technologies.

Focus on core business. As resources such as investment, manpower and infrastructure are limited, outsourcing makes it possible for firms to shift their focus from secondary and non-core activities to the development of the core business. It also helps in increasing companies’ efficiency since business functions such as business development, marketing, and distribution can be delegated to an external firm.

Quality improvement. Outsourcing can give companies the benefit of getting services from people with solid experience and expertise on a given business process, e.g., engineering and customer service. Companies can opt to outsource a business function that is not their core competency, enabling them to cross-leverage on the skills and expertise that can be provided by BPO companies.

Risk management. Risks are part of every business, and one way to control them is through outsourcing. Firms have high chances of avoiding risks, such as those involve in market competition and financial status, by partnering with a BPO company that can provide the best mitigation that is in line with their areas of expertise.

Faster delivery. Through outsourcing, business development is accelerated since BPO companies have the capability to provide faster services and deliverables, thus saving companies significant amount of time. Outsourcing can help companies make deliveries to customers on time.

Customer satisfaction. Companies can build customer loyalty through outsourcing. Having a track record of providing high-quality services on time, companies can achieve higher customer satisfaction that leads to customer loyalty.

Competitive edge. Outsourcing can help companies compete with their peers in the market. It gives them access to economies of scale, expertise and efficiency that are at par with their competitors. By outsourcing, companies can provide top-of-the-line services that can help them gain a cutting-edge in the market.