Hi Stephen, You make excellent points, but regarding the BPO sector, Jamaica as a country cannot expect that call centre operations, where high school graduates are suitably qualified to work, to pay top notch salaries. Often, outsourcing companies are being guided by local pay scales when setting their own rates, hence employees will most likely not be getting top salaries, rather, they would be more aligned to national pay scales.

Also, some of the strides Jamaica and other countries in the region have made in the outsourcing industry stem from the fact that costs, especially salaries, in places like India and the Philippines, have begun to increase. Hence it is almost inevitable as our sectors mature (not just wrt outsourcing), our costs will also begin to increase, and other countries will emerge as attractive destinations for certain kinds of business. However, as you rightly noted, I think it is important for our countries to strategise to move into higher value services, since other countries will eventually be able to do certain things cheaper than we can.

Craig,
That is an excellent point! Most of us – not just in the tech field – do not the appreciate the value of what we do. Also, traditionally, unless you were an “Engineer”, most associated positions would be considered along the lines of “Technician”, which would be seen as something less – involving a trades school, and no formal university training. However, while things have changed considerably over the years – every area has become its own specialty, requiring its own training – the mind set has not changed…