Gov’t Training More Persons for BPO Jobs – PM

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government is providing additional resources to train more persons for job opportunities in the rapidly expanding business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

“The Government of Jamaica stands in support of the BPO (sector), and we will make the necessary investments to ensure that there is the flow of human resources to support the continued development and expansion of that industry,” he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the official launch of KPMG in Jamaica’s nearshore knowledge outsourcing facility – KPMG Jamaica Extended Support Services (K-JESS) – at Harbour Street in downtown Kingston on Tuesday (November 13).

Mr. Holness said he is of the opinion that the BPO industry, which now directly employs 30,000 persons locally, has the potential to employ “10 times that” with good quality jobs.

“The BPO industry can create good quality… high-paying jobs. It can create career opportunities – jobs with a long life cycle where you can start at one level and spend your lifetime in it, ending at a significantly higher level where a career path is established,” he said.

It is in recognition of this potential that the Government has been preparing the workforce to take up lucrative job opportunities in the sector though training under the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme, and the Heart Trust/NTA.

The Prime Minister said he is cognisant that the industry will continue to evolve, and, as such, the Government will be investing in the higher-order services “to ensure that Jamaica continues to be an attractive destination for BPO services”.

In the meantime, Mr. Holness praised the local arm of KPMG on the investment the company is making in the knowledge outsourcing sector, noting that the Government is seeking to invest in and expand this industry.

“The level of analytical work that is required by your shared support service centre requires high-level trained staff to do your accounting work, to do your research work, to do your data analytics.

That is what we want to train our human resources here to do, and that is the investment that the Government of Jamaica is willing to make,” he said.

KPMG in Jamaica, which is a member firm of KPMG International, provides audit, tax advisory and outsourcing services from two offices in Kingston and Montego Bay. It employs over 475 professionals.

K-JESS, which is Jamaica’s new knowledge outsourcing service, is projected to initially employ an additional 175 persons, which is expected to grow to around 250 individuals.