Biradar toasts staggering growth in BPO earnings in last two years
Dunn says Gov’t keen on expanding sector to rural areas
Published:Friday | October 28, 2022 | 12:08 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
The global services sector is pumping roughly US$890 million (J$136 billion) into the Jamaican economy annually, equivalent to six per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), says the industry’s leading lobbyist Anand Biradar.
Biradar, who is president of the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ), also underlined the sector’s importance to the country, framing it as the third-largest employer behind the Government and the tourism sector.
With the sector also raking in US$780 million in the year leading up to June 30, 2021, he described the financial boost in the last two years as “staggering”.
“There are about 90 domestic and international companies operating in Jamaica and [they] employ about 58,000 [people],” Biradar told the dozens of sector leaders who turned out at the inaugural GSAJ President’s Forum and Luncheon, which was staged in collaboration with the St Ann Chamber of Commerce at Sandals Ochi in Ocho Rios on Thursday.
Biradar said the global services sector – which involves at least 10 protocols, including information technology, business process outsourcing (BPO), and customer experience management – is a business that can spread faster than other sectors and is making an even greater impact on the economy.
Biradar said the greater part of the work being done in Jamaica falls under customer experience management, with the most important part of the industry being about “solving somebody’s problems, alleviating somebody’s pain”.
Dr Norman Dunn, state minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, also hailed the sector for its continued growth.
“The global services sector continues to be an area of significant focus for the Government of Jamaica,” he said. “This sector enjoyed the highest employment growth rate of any other sector in the last decade ... .”
Dunn said there is need for private sector partnership to develop talent to enable the sector to maintain its growth rate, which is around 34 per cent annually.
The state minister said the Government was keen to ensure that development takes place outside urban areas, to enable rural communities to access more opportunities.
The imbalance is quite noticeable in the global services sector with 6,800 of the 7,500 persons employed to one company, ibex, being employed in the Corporate Area, and with 700 in St Ann.
“The reality is that rural communities in the world all over have often been excluded from significant opportunities in healthcare, technology infrastructure, social welfare and education,” Dunn noted, explaining that it is because of an almost exclusive focus on urban centres.
“But this Government has been keen to ensure that thoughtful legislation and support mechanisms are in place to create a more inclusive and enabling society catering to the needs and ambitions of all Jamaicans who are desirous of excelling,” Dunn said.
The state minister said, in order for Jamaica to build a more productive society, it must first establish a quality workforce, an imperative the Government supports.