PM cautioned against work-from-home BPOs
Published:Thursday | June 18, 2020 | 12:00 AMMark Titus/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) has advised Prime Minister Andrew Holness against allowing the creation of virtual SEZs to facilitate the outsourcing sector’s plan to have 25 per cent of its labour pool working from home indefinitely.
“The new paradigm of business is still fluid, and it is not clear what will obtain in the next few months,” said Dr Eric Dean, CEO of JSEZA, in a five-page letter that was seen by The Gleaner.
“The GOJ (Government of Jamaica), therefore, has to be cautious whilst responsive to commerce.”
Dean said that a virtual SEZ could cause a range of problems, including creating loopholes in the tax system. Virtual SEZs, Dean said, might have negative consequences for developers who have invested in building out space and created a proliferation of single-entity SEZs.
“It should also be highlighted that if the aim of virtual SEZs is to facilitate work from home or off-site work, virtual SEZs are not required,” he said.
The Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) was recently granted an additional 90 days – to August 31 – to their existing temporary work-from-home arrangement. However, the lobby made a further request for a “carve-out” in the Special Economic Zone Act 2016, including consideration for the creation of virtual SEZs.
JSEZA’S IGNORANCE
Gloria Henry, president of the GSAJ, declined to comment.
However, according to a leading operator, who asked not to be identified, the recommendation shows some ignorance on the JSEZA’s part.
“It appears that the SEZ Authority doesn’t truly understand or care about the BPO industry that consists of over 50 per cent of its overall client base,” the investor told The Gleaner.
The JSEZA was in full support of the BPO sector being granted the current extension to its current work-from-home arrangement when the national order, made under the Disaster Risk Management Act, ended on May 31, but says the best way forward is to find other solutions to accommodate the evolving business model.
“The authority recommends that the BPO sector focus on creating a value-creating niche in the global information technology space,” Dean said to Holness.
“The entire COVID-19 pandemic has exposed opportunities in offshoring in healthcare, health education, and telemedicine.”