Business-process outsourcing

　　業務流程外包

　　At the front of the back office

　　走在后臺服務的前沿

　　How the Philippines beat India in call centres

　　菲律賓的呼叫中心是怎樣打敗印度的

　　IT S midnight in Manila, and the capital is justwaking up to the start of another working day. Atthe Worldwide Corporate Centre office block,thousands of young Filipinos are crowding into endless open-plan offices. Once seated, theyquickly start answering the questions and calming the frustrations of vexed Americanconsumers beginning their own day on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

　　在馬尼拉的午夜12點，這座首都城市正慢慢步入第二天工作日。此時世界管理中心的辦公大樓里，數千名菲律賓年輕人涌入無數的開放式辦公室。一坐下，他們就迅速開始工作，對太平洋彼岸正開始新的一天的憤怒的美國消費者提出的咨詢做出回答，并安撫他們的情緒。

　　These Filipinos are call-centre workers. To outsiders it is hardly a glamorous profession, yetdespite the antisocial hours these men and women have every reason to be as well-motivated and cheerful as they seem. They are well paid and know that they work at theheart of their country s most dynamic industry.

　　這些菲律賓人都是呼叫中心的員工。在外人看來，這不算是一個光鮮的職業，然而，盡管他們工作時間錯亂，這些男男女女也有充分的理由可以像他們看上去的那么積極樂觀。因為他們有很好的收入，并且知道他們在自己國家最有活力的行業中心工作。

　　The rise of what is known as business-process outsourcing in the Philippines has beennothing short of phenomenal. The very first calls were taken in 1997; today the sectoremploys 638,000 people and enjoys revenues of $11 billion, about 5% of the country s GDP.Last year the Philippines even overtook India, long the biggest call-centre operator in theworld, in voice-related services . The country now employs about 400,000 people at callcentres, India only 350,000.

　　在菲律賓，業務流程外包的這一行業的崛起已經成為一種現象了。首次出現是在1997年;現在這個行業員工達到638,000人，營業總額達到110億美元，約占全國GDP的5%。去年，菲律賓人在話務服務上，超越了長期以來全球最大的印度呼叫運營機構。現在，菲律賓呼叫中心有400,000名雇員，而印度只有350,000名。

　　The South-East Asian upstart is unlikely ever to surpass the SouthAsian behemoth across the entire range of outsourcing offerings, which alsoinclude all kinds of information-technology services. Yet given the extraordinary growth sofar it is hard to gainsay the Philippines own projection that its BPO industry could addanother 700,000 or so jobs by 2023 and generate revenues of $25 billion. At that point, theindustry would make up nearly a tenth of GDP and be bigger in value than the remittancesfrom the 10m Filipinos working overseas.

　　雖然，東南亞菲律賓的新貴可能永遠不能通過提供包括各種信息技術服務在內的全方位外包服務超過南亞的印度巨頭。然而，鑒于到目前為止的非凡增長，很難否認菲律賓對業務流程外包行業的規劃，預計在2023年再增加700,000個工作崗位，收入達到250億美元。到那時，整個行業的營業額將占全國GDP的十分之一，產值將超過來自 1千萬菲律賓海外工作者的匯款。

　　As in the call-centre business so far, some of these new jobs will come at the expense ofIndia. Yet India s relationship with the Philippines in back-office work is more complex thanthe numbers suggest.

　　到目前為止，呼叫中心的一些新的就業機會是和印度競爭得來的。而印度和菲律賓在后臺業務工作上的關系也不僅僅只是數量上的對比這么簡單。

　　The main reason for the success of the Philippine call centres is that workers speak Englishwith a neutral accent and are familiar with American idiomswhich is exactly what theirAmerican customers want. Of these, many have taken to complaining bitterly about Indianaccents . As aresult, the Indian firms themselves have been helping to move jobs to the Philippines bysetting up call centres in Manila and other parts of the country. Infosys and Wipro, as well asscores of other Indian firms, now have substantial operations there. And they aren t drawnto Manila by cheap labour. Wages in the Philippines are slightly higher than in India since theFilipino accent commands a premium.

　　菲律賓呼叫中心成功的主要原因是它的工作人員能說不帶地方口音的英文還能使用類似的美國習語這恰恰是美國客戶需要的。對于這些問題，很多人曾痛苦的抱怨印度口音。結果，印度公司因為他們自己的不足使得他們把工作機會給了菲律賓馬尼拉以及其他地區設立的呼叫中心。現在印孚瑟斯和威普羅，以及其他同等級的印度公司，也有大量的業務在那。而且他們并不是被馬尼拉的廉價勞動力吸引過去的。在菲律賓，因為員工的口音要求，需要支付額外的費用，他們的工資比印度人還要高一些。

　　It also helps that the country has a big pool of well-educated workers. The million or soFilipinos who graduate every year have few other options to choose from, besidesemigrating. And working in a call centre is considered a middle-class job .

　　它還為一大批受過良好教育的菲律賓工作者提供了就業機會。每年有大約一百萬的菲律賓畢業生除了移民沒有什么可以選擇的工作。而且在呼叫中心提供的是相當于中等階層的工作。

　　The big question is whether the Philippine BPO industry, having conquered the call-centremarket, can now move up the value chain. To keep growing rapidly-and profitably-it needs tocapture some of the more sophisticated back-office jobs, such as those processinginsurance claims and conducting due diligence. In these businesses, called knowledge-process outsourcing and legal-process outsourcing, India still rules supreme.

　　菲律賓業務流程外包行業已經征服了呼叫中心市場，現在的大問題是它是否能提升企業價值鏈。要保持快速并且有利的增長，它需要抓住一些更復雜的后臺業務，例如一些保險索賠和盡職調查。這些業務被稱為知識流程外包和法律流程外包，在這方面印度仍處于領先地位。

　　Integreon offers a glimpse of what the future may hold. The firm occupies just a fewdiscreet, very secure offices. It employs 300 people in Manila, 40 of them lawyers who helpmultinational law firms with litigation. Familiarity with America helps. It makes it very easyfor us to do legal research for American firms, says Benjamin Romualdez, the firm s countrymanager.

　　讓我們看看Integreon公司將會發生些什么。這個公司僅僅只占用了幾個不起眼的安全的辦公室。他在馬尼拉有300名雇員，其中40人是律師，幫助跨國的律師事務所進行訴訟。精通美國訴訟。 它讓我們能夠輕松的對美國的公司進行法律研究， 該公司的區域經理Benjamin Romualdez說。

　　This sort of operation is new in Manila, but Mr Romualdez expects that he can find the skilledworkers to double his workforce over five years. Western banks have also discovered thePhilippines. JPMorgan Chase now has over 25,000 workers on its own payroll in the country,many of whom do much more than answering phones. The Philippines is set to compete withIndia across the BPO board.

　　這類機構在馬尼拉還是新事物，但是Romualdez先生希望他能找到技術熟練的員工在未來的五年加倍努力。西方銀行也發現了菲律賓。現在，摩根大通已經有25,000名這個國家的雇員，他們中的許多人不僅僅只是負責接電話的工作。菲律賓將在BPO峰會上與印度競爭。

　　Business-process outsourcing

　　業務流程外包

　　At the front of the back office

　　走在后臺服務的前沿

　　How the Philippines beat India in call centres

　　菲律賓的呼叫中心是怎樣打敗印度的

　　IT S midnight in Manila, and the capital is justwaking up to the start of another working day. Atthe Worldwide Corporate Centre office block,thousands of young Filipinos are crowding into endless open-plan offices. Once seated, theyquickly start answering the questions and calming the frustrations of vexed Americanconsumers beginning their own day on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

　　在馬尼拉的午夜12點，這座首都城市正慢慢步入第二天工作日。此時世界管理中心的辦公大樓里，數千名菲律賓年輕人涌入無數的開放式辦公室。一坐下，他們就迅速開始工作，對太平洋彼岸正開始新的一天的憤怒的美國消費者提出的咨詢做出回答，并安撫他們的情緒。

　　These Filipinos are call-centre workers. To outsiders it is hardly a glamorous profession, yetdespite the antisocial hours these men and women have every reason to be as well-motivated and cheerful as they seem. They are well paid and know that they work at theheart of their country s most dynamic industry.

　　這些菲律賓人都是呼叫中心的員工。在外人看來，這不算是一個光鮮的職業，然而，盡管他們工作時間錯亂，這些男男女女也有充分的理由可以像他們看上去的那么積極樂觀。因為他們有很好的收入，并且知道他們在自己國家最有活力的行業中心工作。

　　The rise of what is known as business-process outsourcing in the Philippines has beennothing short of phenomenal. The very first calls were taken in 1997; today the sectoremploys 638,000 people and enjoys revenues of $11 billion, about 5% of the country s GDP.Last year the Philippines even overtook India, long the biggest call-centre operator in theworld, in voice-related services . The country now employs about 400,000 people at callcentres, India only 350,000.

　　在菲律賓，業務流程外包的這一行業的崛起已經成為一種現象了。首次出現是在1997年;現在這個行業員工達到638,000人，營業總額達到110億美元，約占全國GDP的5%。去年，菲律賓人在話務服務上，超越了長期以來全球最大的印度呼叫運營機構。現在，菲律賓呼叫中心有400,000名雇員，而印度只有350,000名。

　　The South-East Asian upstart is unlikely ever to surpass the SouthAsian behemoth across the entire range of outsourcing offerings, which alsoinclude all kinds of information-technology services. Yet given the extraordinary growth sofar it is hard to gainsay the Philippines own projection that its BPO industry could addanother 700,000 or so jobs by 2023 and generate revenues of $25 billion. At that point, theindustry would make up nearly a tenth of GDP and be bigger in value than the remittancesfrom the 10m Filipinos working overseas.

　　雖然，東南亞菲律賓的新貴可能永遠不能通過提供包括各種信息技術服務在內的全方位外包服務超過南亞的印度巨頭。然而，鑒于到目前為止的非凡增長，很難否認菲律賓對業務流程外包行業的規劃，預計在2023年再增加700,000個工作崗位，收入達到250億美元。到那時，整個行業的營業額將占全國GDP的十分之一，產值將超過來自 1千萬菲律賓海外工作者的匯款。

　　As in the call-centre business so far, some of these new jobs will come at the expense ofIndia. Yet India s relationship with the Philippines in back-office work is more complex thanthe numbers suggest.

　　到目前為止，呼叫中心的一些新的就業機會是和印度競爭得來的。而印度和菲律賓在后臺業務工作上的關系也不僅僅只是數量上的對比這么簡單。

　　The main reason for the success of the Philippine call centres is that workers speak Englishwith a neutral accent and are familiar with American idiomswhich is exactly what theirAmerican customers want. Of these, many have taken to complaining bitterly about Indianaccents . As aresult, the Indian firms themselves have been helping to move jobs to the Philippines bysetting up call centres in Manila and other parts of the country. Infosys and Wipro, as well asscores of other Indian firms, now have substantial operations there. And they aren t drawnto Manila by cheap labour. Wages in the Philippines are slightly higher than in India since theFilipino accent commands a premium.

　　菲律賓呼叫中心成功的主要原因是它的工作人員能說不帶地方口音的英文還能使用類似的美國習語這恰恰是美國客戶需要的。對于這些問題，很多人曾痛苦的抱怨印度口音。結果，印度公司因為他們自己的不足使得他們把工作機會給了菲律賓馬尼拉以及其他地區設立的呼叫中心。現在印孚瑟斯和威普羅，以及其他同等級的印度公司，也有大量的業務在那。而且他們并不是被馬尼拉的廉價勞動力吸引過去的。在菲律賓，因為員工的口音要求，需要支付額外的費用，他們的工資比印度人還要高一些。

　　It also helps that the country has a big pool of well-educated workers. The million or soFilipinos who graduate every year have few other options to choose from, besidesemigrating. And working in a call centre is considered a middle-class job .

　　它還為一大批受過良好教育的菲律賓工作者提供了就業機會。每年有大約一百萬的菲律賓畢業生除了移民沒有什么可以選擇的工作。而且在呼叫中心提供的是相當于中等階層的工作。

　　The big question is whether the Philippine BPO industry, having conquered the call-centremarket, can now move up the value chain. To keep growing rapidly-and profitably-it needs tocapture some of the more sophisticated back-office jobs, such as those processinginsurance claims and conducting due diligence. In these businesses, called knowledge-process outsourcing and legal-process outsourcing, India still rules supreme.

　　菲律賓業務流程外包行業已經征服了呼叫中心市場，現在的大問題是它是否能提升企業價值鏈。要保持快速并且有利的增長，它需要抓住一些更復雜的后臺業務，例如一些保險索賠和盡職調查。這些業務被稱為知識流程外包和法律流程外包，在這方面印度仍處于領先地位。

　　Integreon offers a glimpse of what the future may hold. The firm occupies just a fewdiscreet, very secure offices. It employs 300 people in Manila, 40 of them lawyers who helpmultinational law firms with litigation. Familiarity with America helps. It makes it very easyfor us to do legal research for American firms, says Benjamin Romualdez, the firm s countrymanager.

　　讓我們看看Integreon公司將會發生些什么。這個公司僅僅只占用了幾個不起眼的安全的辦公室。他在馬尼拉有300名雇員，其中40人是律師，幫助跨國的律師事務所進行訴訟。精通美國訴訟。 它讓我們能夠輕松的對美國的公司進行法律研究， 該公司的區域經理Benjamin Romualdez說。

　　This sort of operation is new in Manila, but Mr Romualdez expects that he can find the skilledworkers to double his workforce over five years. Western banks have also discovered thePhilippines. JPMorgan Chase now has over 25,000 workers on its own payroll in the country,many of whom do much more than answering phones. The Philippines is set to compete withIndia across the BPO board.

　　這類機構在馬尼拉還是新事物，但是Romualdez先生希望他能找到技術熟練的員工在未來的五年加倍努力。西方銀行也發現了菲律賓。現在，摩根大通已經有25,000名這個國家的雇員，他們中的許多人不僅僅只是負責接電話的工作。菲律賓將在BPO峰會上與印度競爭。