Australian companies have been one of the top investors in Philippine business process outsourcing for years. According to Magellan Solutions, businesses feel the need to lower their overhead expenses due to rising costs, market saturation and competition – and outsourcing to the Philippines helps them maximise resources and expand profit margins, enabling companies to sustain themselves and the customers who do business with them. “There are over 300 Australian outsourcing companies in the Philippines employing more than 44,000 Filipinos in business process outsourcing, infrastructure, financial services, ICT and energy sectors,” H.E. Ma. Hellen De La Vega, Philippine Ambassador to Australia.
The business processing outsourcing industry in the Philippines has several key advantages as the top outsourcing destination. Many outsourcing companies outsource to the country due to low cost of labor, the English-proficient and highly skilled workforce, as well as cutting-edge technology and infrastructure. These are highly valued attributes to the world’s largest process outsourcing companies in places like the US, Australia and the UK that rely on outsourcing. The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing nations in the outsourcing industry, with a staggering 30% growth within the last decade alone. In fact, business process outsourcing accounts for one of the biggest boosts to the Philippines’ economy and currently employs more than 2 million people in several sectors, boasting a net worth of $24 billion.
Why Australian companies are outsourcing to the Philippines
Time zone
The outsourcing workforce in the Philippines provides 24/7 services. BPO centers have staff working multiple shifts so multiple time zones are covered. The Philippines also has a highly specialized and diverse talent pool with employees who have worked for large multinational and business process outsourcing companies. And considering that the Philippines shares a similar time zone with Australia (the same as Perth and only two hours behind Sydney), this offers plenty of benefits and higher value services for Australian companies that are looking to expand their 24/7 customer service offering.
English skills
Being a former colony of Spain and the United States, the Philippines has a strong affinity to Western culture and is the world’s third-largest English-speaking nation. In a report by Global English Corporation, the Philippines was named as the world’s best country in business English proficiency with almost 60 million English speakers. Most of the Philippine workforce graduate from schools that adhere to western standards when it comes to English, enabling them to have excellent communication skills.
Cost-effective solutions
According to Select Voicecom, the hundreds of established outsourcing companies settled in the Philippines has an expected annual growth rate is around 7% to 9%, which is higher than the expected global growth. Prime Outsourcing also elaborates how the Philippine BPO industry has contributed $30 billion to the country’s economy annually. Furthermore, a buoyant outsourcing industry bodes positively well for the real estate sector as a result of increased demand for office space and residential condos, in addition to its benefits for the transportation, telecommunications, hospitality, and retail sectors, as Colliers stated.
Excellent work ethics
Filipinos are known for their excellent work ethic, resiliency, and professionalism. As employees, Filipinos always strive to deliver results because they have quality-driven single-mindedness and perseverance like no other. They are also highly trainable, so they can keep up with new tasks and job specifications quickly and effectively. The Philippine workforce is also well-known for the type of resilience that makes them resourceful during times of abrupt changes – a skill you can most likely see at work as resiliency in the Philippines always goes hand in hand with adaptability.
Highly-skilled labour
The Philippines boasts a highly-skilled workforce with a huge pool of professionals who are university-educated – hundreds of thousands of university graduates enter the workforce each year with western-influenced training, excellent communication skills, and the unique resourcefulness only Filipinos can deliver. Many outsourcing companies continuously hire talents from the Philippines, and Australian companies are one of the top investors in the Philippine workforce. Colliers also adds that the Philippines is considered a top-tier destination for the outsourcing industry; it is a market leader in terms of voice-related services, and it is rapidly expanding its capacity to provide non-voice Business Process Management (BPM) and IT services for the expanding list of global clientele.
Australian companies that outsource to the Philippines
Canva
Founded in Surry Hills, Australia, Canva is an online graphic design platform that allows its users to create visual content for any digital channel. It is one of the successful Australian start-ups founded in 2012. In 2014, Canva decided to outsource its graphic design, customer service, and back-office operations to the Philippines. According to co-founder Melanie Perkins, they chose to outsource to the Philippines because of the country’s familial feel to inspire creativity. What started as 6 persons doing remote work turned into over 60 creative and talented Filipino graphic designers. Today, Canva has 10 million unique users, according to TeleworkPH.
Bhp group
At present, BHP Group is the second largest company in the realm of Australia’s financial markets. With a market capital of no less than $230.9 billion, BHP is known to be a global mining giant. The company specializes in production of metals, minerals, and petroleum.
Back in 2020, BHP’s global operations were staffed by 80,121 people. 39% of these workers are directly hired employees and the rest are outsourced from different countries including the Philippines, according to SixEleven.
Bpo resono
Resono is an Australian start-up that offers projects for low-cost airlines in the Asia-Pacific region, qualifying as part of the top 10% of the top suppliers of a multinational airlines group of companies. They have their own Manila-based staff that manages various back office support services and operations for administrative projects requested by their client, according to SixEleven.
Telstra
Telstra Corporation Limited, known as Telstra, the largest telecommunications company in Australia operates telecommunications networks and markets products and services for voice, mobile, internet access, and pay television. This Australian company has been outsourcing to The Philippines since 2014, taking advantage of the large talent pool and services for operations since the country has a strong western influence that makes it easier for foreign investors to conduct business operations that saves plenty of time and resources, especially when understanding tasks, communicating with clients, and interpreting important assigned documents. The Philippine BPO industry is also known for offering outstanding customer service, being a market leader in voice-related services.
Outsourcing in the Philippines for Australian companies
According to Manila Bulletin, Australian investors engaged in shipbuilding, business process outsourcing, call center, software development, engineering, architectural, and other design services have poured in P14.632 billion worth of investments, generating $351.944 million in exports, and created 43,033 direct jobs. With the growing number of Australian companies and startups amplified by the competitive gig economy, outsourcing has never been stronger in recent years. Australia has always been one of the top countries to outsource to the Philippines, and Australia’s proximity to Southeast Asia is just one factor why outsourcing to the Philippines is popular for many Australian companies. The Philippines offer highly-skilled, English-proficient talent with cost-efficient labour costs, in addition to having strong government support, good economic growth, and cultural match and compatibility.
To emphasize just how affordable it is for Australian companies to outsource in the Philippines, connectOS reports how employee costs in the Philippines are generally 30% of an equivalent role in Australia. For every role you have in Australia, you can typically hire three people in the Philippines for the same cost. This is achievable due to the Philippines having one of the lowest costs of living among its regional neighbors. Offshoring careers are highly sought after – an employee working in an outsourcing/offshoring role earns, on average, more than double the minimum wage – AUD$770 – AUD$930 per month.
Frequently asked questions
Why Philippines is being chosen in outsourcing?
The key reasons why a lot of foreign investors and entrepreneurs find the Philippines so attractive when looking for an outsourcing location are the cost-efficient labor costs, where you get access to a highly-skilled workforce at such an affordable rate, and the deeply-rooted values they uphold in their personal and professional lives – there is an unmistakable, genuine sense of cultural compatibility that you can only find in the Philippines. Outsourcing to the Philippines saves your business from high costs and cultural incompatibility. These factors made the Philippines as the top outsourcing destination for the United States, Australia, Britain, and other parts of Asia, and still counting.
Read: Australian Privacy Laws and Outsourcing to the Philippines
What is the top outsourcing industry in the Philippines?
Business process outsourcing is the future of the Philippine economy. The Philippine BPO industry exists as the resilient economic driver of the country with over 11% contribution to national GDP and employing over 1.3 million Filipinos in more than 1000 outsourcing companies – with that figure growing at an annual rate of 8-10%. BPO is a powerful force driving the Philippine economy that has created a ripple effect in many aspects like export growth, employment generation, telecommunication sector growth, real estate growth, small business growth, and transportation growth. With the rapid growth in Philippine outsourcing, outsourcing companies are expanding to offer more specialized outsourcing services. In a 2022 report shared by superstaff, analysts shared that the Philippines has improved its capacity for companies that offer non-call center outsourcing services, including high-skill services such as IT, software development, financial services and accounting, healthcare, and knowledge process outsourcing.
What are you waiting for?
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The Outsourcer is a game-changer in the Philippine and Australian outsourcing industry, having only the best talent for whatever job you need to be done – whether you need lead generation specialists, experts in digital marketing, software development, or even financial services. We will work on continuous training and coaching to give you the best results for your business. Find out for yourself why Australian companies outsource to the Philippines. Save on recruitment and training expenses, while maintaining successful operations to grow your business by scheduling a free consultation with us today.