Globally, the business process outsourcing (BPO) segment of the wider outsourcing market continues to experience exponential growth, by as much as 9% year-on-year – increasing by one percentage point four years ago. Kirk Laughlin, of Nearshore Americas, discusses, among other things: how the Caribbean outsourcing industry has performed since 2020; how technological advancements such as AI and automation are affecting the outsourcing industry; and whether the Caribbean region is still competitive and attractive, noting the other locations worldwide that have emerged that are also vying for outsourcing business.

 

This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music and Stitcher!

Whether we like it or not, offshore outsourcing is a thriving segment of the business landscape in many Caribbean countries. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were being furloughed or lost their jobs outright and industries were contracting, the Caribbean region’s offshore outsourcing industry held firm, and even experienced growth. In countries where unemployment rates are generally high, and can be close to 50% among the youth cohort, offshore outsourcing remains a segment that Caribbean policymakers are eager to nurture.

For at least a decade, outsourcing, and the business process outsourcing (BPO) segment in particular, has been experiencing exponential growth. In 2022 that segment was estimated to have a value of USD 261.9 billion and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4% between 2023 and 2030 (Source: Grand View Research). Back in 2020, when we had our last conversation on outsourcing, the global BPO business had an estimated value of USD 221.5 billion in 2019 and was expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.0% between then (2019) and 2027.

With the relaxation of COVID-19-related restrictions and as some sense of normalcy continues to return, we thought it useful to revisit the state of the Caribbean offshore outsourcing space, and discuss the developments that have occurred over the past few years, along with trends and strategies that Caribbean countries could consider employing to better position themselves for the future.

 

Introducing our guest

Kirk Laughlin

Kirk Laughlin is the founder and Managing Director of Nearshore Americas, – the premiere platform for providing authoritative data and insight on Latin America’s rise as a global leader in technology services and digital innovation. Since launching Nearshore Americas, and the Nexus conference franchise 15 years ago, Laughlin has become one of the foremost thought leaders on the expansion of knowledge-services investment in the Americas.

Kirk has extensive knowledge of the Nearshore industry, having interviewed and consulted with thousands of brand leaders, government officials and sources in more than 20 countries in the region. Kirk has also participated as an expert speaker and moderator at dozens of forums in Latin America, North America and the Caribbean. He has been interviewed and quoted in several notable publications including The Financial Times, BCC News, Miami Herald and the Globe and Mail.

Kirk spearheaded the launch of Nearshore Nexus in 2010, the Nearshore industry’s annual conference held in New York City. Kirk remains deeply committed to the core mission of Nearshore Americas which is to increase awareness and engagement with Latin America and Caribbean partners and ecosystems.

 

Insights into our conversation

Kirk is indeed a fount of knowledge on the Caribbean outsourcing space. And since he has a bird’s eye view of what is happening in the region, he is able to contextualise the developments in the region with those occurring in the global market and among clients and investors.

Although Caribbean countries seemed to have fared well during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial that they do not rest on their laurels. Countries ought to be refining their investment promotions strategy and ensuring that they are positioning themselves to meet and connect with the right companies and prospective investors; because although the Caribbean region is widely known as a leading tourist destination, it is still not seen as a place to do business.

Below are some of the questions posed to Kirk during our conversation.

  1. How has the Caribbean and Latin American outsourcing industry fared since we last spoke in November 2020?
  2. Accompanying that success, I am sure challenges and vulnerabilities emerged. What were they, and do they persist?
  3. Can you give us a sense of how technological advancements, such as robotics process automation, AI and large language models, are affecting the outsourcing industry and countries in particular?
  4. What types of skills do you think will be required in the region to serve the outsourcing sector over the next 5 to 7 years?
  5. In the Caribbean, and to varying degrees, several countries have built their investment promotion strategy to attract call centres primarily. But do you think that is still a good idea within the context of the current and emerging environment?
  6. How competitive and attractive is the Caribbean region? Is there still scope for growth? Are we tapping out due to our small populations and/or prices?
  7. In what ways should Caribbean countries be thinking in order to try to attract investment, in light of the current environment and the competitive nature of the business?
  8. Are there any other trends in the IT/BPO space of which we should be aware? And are there threats and opportunities that the region ought to consider in positioning itself for the future?

 

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse.

Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, do get in touch.

Let’s make it happen!

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit: K Laughlin; Kampus Production (Pexels);  Charanjeet Dhiman (Unsplash);  CDC (Unsplash)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez