One Year In Government - Prime Minister Andrew Holness

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THE GOVERNMENT is positioning
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
as a major sector for investment, as it
targets employment of 300,000 Jamaicans in
the industry over the next five years.
BPO is the fastest-growing industry in
Jamaica and has had the highest employment
rate of any sector in Jamaica over the past
decade.
The number of Jamaicans employed in the
sector has moved from 12,000 in 2011 to
more than 22,000 currently.
The sector, with estimated spend moving
from US$230 million in 2012 to some
US$430 million in 2015, represents a critical
point in the plan for job creation and inclusive
growth. Overseas-based businesses in
telecommunications, banking, insurance,
health care, finance and accounting, gaming
and tech support are all being serviced from
Jamaica through BPO operations.
A number of international companies such
as Sutherland Global, Xerox, ItelBPO and
IBEX Global opened up locations in the
island last year and together have generated
more than US$500 million in revenues.
In August, ground was broken for a new
63,000-square foot building at the Montego
Bay Free Zone. The new building, which will
increase capacity by 10 per cent, is scheduled
for completion by the first half of 2017 and
will provide jobs for an additional 2,000
workers.
SEVEN PROJECTS ON HORIZON
At least seven more projects are slated to
come on stream shortly.
Montego Bay continues to be the centre of
BPO activity, with the majority of the 45 BPO
companies located in the Second City and
generating 98 per cent of foreign exchange
earnings.
Eighty per cent of all operators in Montego
Bay are situated in the Montego Bay Free Zone.
Employment within the freezone grew by
16 per cent in 2015-16, and the Government
says there is potential to triple that number.
While Montego Bay continues to be the
nucleus of BPO activity, Kingston,
Mandeville, Portmore and Montego Bay have
seen a rise in BPO businesses.
In October, Prime Minister Holness opened
IBEX Global in Portmore, which has so far
employed 550 persons. Sutherland Global has
also opened offices in Mandeville.
... BPO expected
to push
employment
upwards
• • gleanerjamaica • jamaicagleaner • FEATURE THE GLEANER, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017 E9
JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
PM ORDERS ESTABLISHMENT OF BPO INVESTMENT FUND
O’BRYAN ROBINSON, who has been employed to
Sutherland Global Services in Mandeville for nearly two
years, is elated about being employed in the BPO sector. He
points out that his employment in the outsourcing company
has enabled him to adequately take care of his family.
“It is a whole new exciting sector, and that makes it
interesting. My company is very accommodating. If I
wanted to go to school they would work around it, and it
has enabled me to take care of my family, especially now
that I have a two-month-old son,” he said.
Robinson also wants to dispel notions that the BPO sector
functions primarily as a call centre, even though this was his
initial belief during high school.
“To me, call centre had sounded like a low-paying, low-
budget factory job. But it is not like that at Sutherland ... ,”
he added.
The prime minister has pledged the Government’s full
commitment to the success of the industry.
He said he has given a directive to three government
entities to collaborate in the formation of an investment fund
to accommodate and promote the growth in the BPO sector.
These are the Factories Corporation of Jamaica, the
Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and Jamaica
Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO).
COMMITTED TO FUNDING GROWTH
Last year, the DBJ approved four loans valued at more
than US$37 million for the buildout of BPO space in
Kingston and Montego Bay.
The agency has committed to further loans totalling
US$58 million to support the buildout of 771,550 square
feet of space to provide 16,720 jobs.
Jobs in the BPO sector include customer service
representatives, call centre agents, information technology
technicians and telemarketers. The Government is
aggressively positioning the industry to move up the
value chain.
Careers in finance and law have already opened up, and
JAMPRO says there is demand for legal process
outsourcing, with law firms utilising outside support
services for legal research and other routine work.
Local lawyers and legal officers are being urged to take
advantage of these opportunities.
PHOTOS BY JERMAINE BARNABY/PHOTOGRAPHER
Prime Minister Andrew Holness (seated) manoeuvring a backhoe during the recent ground breaking for the Portmore Informatics Park,
St Catherine.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness (third left) is flanked by (from left) Professor Gordon Shirley, president and CEO The Port
Authority of Jamaica; Dr Horace Chang, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation;
Ambassador Dr Nigel Clarke, chairman of The Port Authority of Jamaica; and Mayor of Portmore Leon Thomas as they break
ground for the Portmore Informatics Park.