Can South Africa be a new call center capital? Communications Essay (Essay Sample)

South Africa: The New Call Center Capital
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South Africa: The New Call Center Capital
Outsourcing call centers is the new standard of feasible business practices as it reduces costs in putting one in-house. Countries such as India and the Philippines have for long enjoyed prominence in this domain, offering cheap and affordable labor to run such centers. Companies such as Amazon and Coracall are just a few of the international multinationals leading the migration to South Africa due to a subtle, almost British-like accent, technological expertise, and cheap labor costs. South Africa’s indulgence in the trade raked in $250 million in exports in the 2009-2010 financial year (Eastwood, 2012). South Africa is fast emerging as the new call center capital by offering government incentives, multilingual agents, and cheaper labor compared to established call center destinations.
Firstly, South Africa is the newly emerging call center capital due to the cheap and affordable labor the country offers compared to established call center destinations. Due to skyrocketing unemployment rates in a country rocked by racial division, the cost of labor is comparatively lower than in India and the Philippines (Eastwood, 2012). Moreover, South Africa enjoys a larger pool of talent for companies to hire from, at cheaper rates, due to the high levels of unemployment. Fast-paced technological progression attracts companies such as Aegis to invest in South African call centers that cost 20-30% less to run than in the US (Eastwood, 2012). Companies outsourcing their call centers to South Africa, therefore, incur lower costs while enjoy a vast pool of talent to hire from due to the high rates of unemployment.