Brazil-based contact center agents serving offshore clients are set to almost triple in five years.
Outsourcing entails allowing another company to handle specific needs of the primary firm, which that firm cannot or does not want to do. This allows companies to focus on their core competencies and contract out other types of services.
Brazil’s strong domestic market has produced more in-house contact center agent positions than anywhere else in Latin America. What this means is that a sizeable pool of well trained and experienced contact center agents already exist in Brazil, thus giving it an advantage in terms of experienced contact center management.
In terms of cost per agent, a critical factor in selecting offshore destinations, Brazil is in a good position compared to competition in India, the Philippines, and Canada, where costs are rapidly rising.
The conditions are right for offshore-outsourcing in Brazil but several questions remain. For example, whether or not English language calling can be supported effectively from Brazil. On the other hand, there’s room for Brazilian contact center work in Spanish-speaking US regions and other Caribbean and Latin American (CALA) countries. Even more uniquely, possibly Japan.
While some challenges face Brazil as it seeks to expand its position in the global market for offshoring agents, including issues of language, perception of stability, and macroeconomics, the future looks bright.
Overall, the number of CALA-based contact center agents servicing offshore customers is forecast to more than triple from 16,200 in 2005 to 44,900 in 2010.
