Globally, offshore outsourcing is a huge market and growing. By 2030, it is expected to be valued at half a trillion dollars! It is thus highly dynamic and competitive with Caribbean countries trying to maintain and even increase their size of pie. Wayne Sinclair, the current President of the Global Services Association of Jamaica, formerly the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica, joins us to discuss the state of the industry, including: whether Jamaica’s outsourcing industry can continue to grow and remain globally competitive; the impact technologies such as AI and Robotic Process Automation are having on the industry; what it might take to move up the value chain; and his thoughts on the future of outsourcing.

 

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

For many Caribbean countries, the offshore outsourcing industry has been an important contributor to job creation and their respective economies. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, when the tourism and hospitality sector ground to a halt across the region, the outsourcing industry grew and even buoyed some countries from an even worse economic impact.

However, the offshore outsourcing industry is one that everyone loves to hate, as they recall the early 1990s when data entry and call centres were first established, and from all reports, were akin to sweatshops due to very low wages and poor working conditions. While those types of operations may still exist in some quarters, they tend to fly under the radar and are not indicative of the majority, which tend to be internationally recognised outsourcing firms with Fortune 500 and other publicly traded companies as clients.

At the same time, it is important to emphasise that globally, the offshore outsourcing space is fast-paced and highly competitive. Countries with high unemployment rates, especially among their youth population, and low labour rates want to be able to provide more jobs, whilst the industry players are, among other things, continually adjusting to newer technologies, changes in talent availability and the cost and ease of doing business in the countries in which they have a presence.

It has been about 18 months since our last look at the region’s offshore outsourcing space. Though it was not that long ago, it seemed as if we were overdue for an update in light of some recent developments discussed in this interview.

 

Introducing our guest

Wayne Sinclair

Wayne Sinclair has had a diversified career as a Management Consultant and in Operations spanning over 40 years in a variety of industries including Financial Services, The Creative Industries, and the Global Services Sector. Starting out as a financial analyst with a boutique Investment Bank in San Diego California, he was responsible for analyzing various securities in the debt and equity space particularly Real Estate and Oil and Gas Limited Partnerships. After moving to Los Angeles, he worked with Warner Brothers Television (formerly Lorimar Television) in bringing the first episodic television series; “Going To Extremes” to be filmed entirely on location in Jamaica for a major American Network (ABC).  Wayne then went on to manage the touring and merchandising operations for several projects including the Lollapalooza Tour and Reggae Sunsplash. 

Wayne then spent several years working as a consultant and thematic expert on the Creative Industries for different multilateral agencies, NGOs and European private sector companies including the European Commission, the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO).  One of the more lasting legacies of this work is the Brussels Declaration of Artists and Cultural Professionals (2009) which has since spawned several projects throughout the ACP aimed at maximizing the value and export readiness of native cultural assets and capacity building for cultural professionals.  One such project is Southplanet, which is the largest database of cultural artists operating throughout the ACP region.

On returning to his native Jamaica, and going back to his financial services roots, for the past 8 years, Wayne has served as the Managing Director of National Credit Adjusters (NCA) Jamaica, a debt collection company headquartered in Hutchinson, Kansas.  Initially providing only collection agents, NCA Jamaica now provides a variety of back-office administrative support services for the head office and is now the largest of the company’s four branches.

 

Insights into our conversation

From all reports, the offshore industry in the Caribbean region has been thriving, but the industry in the region has been changing to respond to new and emerging developments, such as other countries globally becoming more competitive, changes in the labour market, countries introducing new economic and trade policies, and the increasing cost of doing business in the region. However, in light of these and other challenges, Wayne is still very optimistic about the future of the industry both in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

Also, while others have been signalling job loss due to AI, Wayne is of a country view. Although roles will change, he predicts a considerable upswing with more opportunities than we can now envisage. However, industry stakeholders need to be prepared to adjust and evolve.

Below are key questions that drove our conversation with Wayne.

  1. To start us off, give us a synopsis of Jamaica’s outsourcing industry and how it has been evolving over the past few years
  2. Tell us more about the Global Services Association.
  3. With the Jamaica sector around 50,000 and the unemployment rate reported at around 4%, can the sector still continue to grow and remain globally competitive?
  4. In the past month, it was announced that Ibex was closing two sites in Jamaica (but employee numbers are not changing), and whilst in Guyana, itel and Acquity BPO were shutting down their operations. What do these announcements say to you?
  5. How are technologies such as AI and RPA affecting the outsourcing industry in Jamaica?
  6. Among today’s workers, there is a continual need to upskill. What types of skills do you think will be required in the region to serve the outsourcing sector over the next 3 to 5 years?
  7. What do you think is the future of outsourcing?

 

We would love to hear your thoughts!

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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:

 

 

Image credits:   W Sinclair;  rawpixel.com (Freepik); DC Studio (Freepik); Steve Buissinne (Pixabay)

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

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez