Call centre industry showing growth and resilience amid a pandemic

STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALDERMAN JAMES VOS.

Earlier this week, I took some time to visit some of the key role players in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector in Cape Town. I was accompanied by Gareth Pritchard, CEO of BPESA Western Cape (BPESA WC), the City’s strategic business partner.

Due to the number of job opportunities and investment potential this sector creates, the City identified the BPO sector as a priority sector. Notably, from the commencement of this financial year (July 2019) to date, the City has seen investments in this sector of approximately R954 million, which has resulted in 2 727 job opportunities. BPESA WC has also facilitated the training of 550 people through their skills development initiative.

Currently, the BPO sector employs approximately 260 000 people nationally. This includes 60 000 people in the Western Cape alone. That said, there is no doubt that the necessary COVID-19 national lockdown has temporarily disrupted this sector. For this reason, I wrote to the Minister of Trade and Industry Mr Ebrahim Patel during the early stages of the lockdown to motivate for certain contact centres to remain open during the lockdown period. This sector plays a vital role in offering support services to those operating on the frontline of the fight against the pandemic. We thank the national minister for being responsive and recognising the essential services provided by some centres.

As part of my remit, I visited Teleperformance and Webhelp Services, situated in the CBD. I am amazed at the measures put in place to keep staff and visitors safe. We were not allowed on the premises without masks, and our temperatures were taken before we could enter the premises at both facilities. The contact centre operators were strategically spaced to accommodate for social distancing regulations and ensure the wellbeing of the teams.

I was particularly proud to hear that true to the resilient, diligent attitude of Capetonians, all the agents currently working for both companies volunteered to return to the front line. During further deliberations, I was pleased to learn that some of the operators are also working from home, and that these businesses will be investigating the possibility of making remote working their new normal.

Through BPESA WC, both organisations, along with others are currently discussing options like establishing satellite offices closer to their agents’ homes, to take the jobs to where people live. We also learned that these companies are looking at opportunities to expand. Teleperfomance, for example, plans to take on an additional 1 200 employees in the coming months. Trends indicate that Cape Town and South Africa are well-placed to absorb and provide 24/7 functionality to clients from other countries who may sadly have to relocate due to the global pandemic.

We have reason to be both proud and hopeful. Cape Town, despite these trying times, is still seen as one of the preferred destinations for contact centres to base their operations. One of my key priorities is to continue to partner with this sector to ensure jobs and investment are retained and to lead our recovery, creating opportunities for the residents of the city, by supporting and opening avenues to invest in high growth sectors like the BPO sector.