THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it will consult with the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to map out possible responses to potential US legislation that will call for the reshoring call centers to the US.
“I am setting a meeting with the BPO industry,” Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque told senators during the DTI budget hearing on Monday.
Senators had queried the department about the proposed “Keep Call Centers in America” bill.
Introduced in the US Senate earlier this year, the bill aims to impose restrictions on US firms that outsourcing call center operations.
“We do not want that to happen. I have to meet with the BPO companies to check what their sentiments are and what they plan to do,” she told BusinessWorld.
“We are not sure yet if it is really going to happen, but… it is really best that we get to meet them because… we want to find solutions, and… they will be able to tell us their recommendations,” she added.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian called the US bill
“a clear and pressing danger to us considering that we earn close to about $40 billion a year, so if these call centers shrink and eventually disappear, talagang patay tayo (it will kill us) because that’s about 2 million call center agents na mawawalan ng trabaho (that will lose their jobs), and the repercussions will be really tremendous,” he said.
“This is just a bill for now, but we need to be forward-looking, and we need to have contingency measures,” he added.
Asked to comment, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman George T. Barcelon said: “the US government has to think twice because artificial intelligence won’t be able to completely eliminate humans. And definitely their cost of providing such services would shoot up with their pay, which is 4-5x higher than offshoring.” — Justine Irish D. Tabile