

Fierce competition over the years has prompted top vendors to adopt rigorous internal standards, and many have been recognized by the call center industry for world-class processes, technology and training. One thing that is certain-outsourcers have matured significantly. Call center vendors evolving to keep pace with a dynamic market For instance, do these studies include smaller providers and niche outsourcers? How do we know? There are thousands of call center outsourcing vendors worldwide-some reports claim tens of thousands-and many are being bought, sold, merged and created almost daily. Keeping up to date on the ever-changing vendor landscape is a challenge, which makes it even harder to verify the accuracy of such estimates. But what does this mean in terms of volume or the number of outsourcing providers? The IT & BPO Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) reports that there are 1.15 million workers currently employed within BPOs, and estimates the workforce to reach 1.8 million in 2022. The Philippines, a popular location for voice-related BPO, reached $22.9 billion in revenue last year.

The consulting firm also estimates that there are 1.1 million agents employed in Indian BPOs. Kearney pegs the total number of call center workers in the United States-both in-house and outsourced-at 3.4 million. By 2022, the global market is expected to reach $407.1 billion, according to predictions by business intelligence firm Global Industry Analysts.Ī.T. Rapid advancements in dialing technology, client/server computing and the explosive growth of the internet during the '90s spurred an increase in call centers, and the business process outsourcing (BPO) market swelled to help ease the strain on business resources.ĬustomerServ estimates the overall call center marketplace to be around $200 billion in revenue. Research doesn’t provide the complete picture

We all waited in anticipation for that list to come out-thumping our chests if we topped the list, or bowing our heads in disappointment for dropping a few notches. Remember how obsessed we all were with the Top 50 Teleservices Agency list? It was the only industry ranking at the time. The outsourcing vendors also knew each other well back then, and whenever a new one popped up, all eyes were on them. These leaders learned from the playbooks of outsourcing gurus like Raman Roy, Jack Welch, Peter Drucker and Frank Holz. The “founders” of the call center industry like Steve and Sherrie Idelman, Ted Schwarz, Ed Blank, Mary West and others were prominent personalities who pioneered the idea of outsourcing a call center. Staying in the loop was easy it was possible to keep up to date on recent news and who was doing what. In the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed as though you could put your arms around the industry. Have you ever wondered just how many call centers and outsourcing providers there are worldwide? It’s a question that we’re often asked, but it’s difficult to answer. The call center industry has been growing and evolving for the past few decades.
