Where in the World - BPO and Shared Service Location Index 2

back-office work to Asia are keen to move more complex financial and legal tasks to Poland – attracted by time-zone proximity to Western capitals, EU membership and a better “cultural fit” with Western business practices. Poland also follows all European Union laws for copyright and IP (intellectual property) and in addition, they comply with United States standards in data security and IP protection. The driving force behind Poland’ success is the strength of its labour market. Nearly 500,000 students graduate each year and 39% of inhabitants aged between 25 and 34 have university degrees. Poland’s highly revered universities have been willing to reshape their curriculum in order to produce graduates with the skills that match the requirements of the BPO sector. Despite Poland retaining its currency—the zloty, its international competitiveness has remained relatively stable over the last few years. Despite recent radical national and conservative political shifts – which may have alarmed some foreign investors— the Hungarian example shows BPO & SCC employers are unlikely to be impacted by policies that still strongly support job generating foreign direct investment.

more than one million people and is expected to generate $24-25bn in revenues in 2016, up from just $3.4bn in 2006. Despite this, the industry employs roughly 3% of the labour force as of end-2015 and the country has struggled to stem youth unemployment of 13.5% as of July 2016. The country’s chief selling point is a large young and educated population that speaks English with a neutral accent and has a cultural affinity with the west. By 2022, the local BPO industry is estimated to create an additional one million jobs and growing its share of non- voice services to around 33%.

INDIA India retains its title as the largest BPO market by-far globally and remains unmatched in terms of scale of its vast pool of skilled and talented human resources. The country has 90 million college educated workers and 462 million internet users and with the presence of a large English-speaking population, flexible pricing options, fast turnaround times, availability of infrastructure and technological capabilities, industry-friendly and attractive government policies, India continues to witness superior levels of demand than alternative markets like China and Mexico. However, the attrition rate in India remains a concern as does the steadily increasing labour cost base, fueled by an economy that is forecast to grow 7.7% in 2016. Within India there are many second and third tier cities that are establishing themselves as much cheaper and more sustainable locations for BPO operations.

POLAND

Poland is the largest BPO market within the Central & Eastern European Region with over 16 sizeable cities where the outsourcing industry has been growing since 1995 at a growth rate of 20% per annum. Banks and professional services companies that have traditionally shipped

BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING AND SHARED SERVICE LOCATION INDEX 2016 / 21