Former Chairman Pleased With Skills Development In Global Services Sector

As Yoni Epstein reflects on his tenure as Chairman of the Global Services Skills Council (GSSC), one thing he is most proud of is that thousands of Jamaicans got the opportunity to develop and enhance their skills.

Skills development is a major component of the Global Services Sector (GSS) Project, which is spearheaded by the GSSC.

Mr. Epstein became chairman of the GSSC in 2019 when the Government of Jamaica signed a loan agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank for the implementation of the five-year GSS Project, which aims to provide Jamaicans with access to training and better jobs in the sector, which comprises knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO).

“I’ve come to the end of my tenure. We’ve seen a lot of success over the three years that I have been chairman. The committee worked very closely in developing the necessary skills needed to take the sector to the next level,” Mr. Epstein tells JIS News.

He indicates that individuals benefited from different levels of upskilling.

These include persons working as agents, who wanted to become managers or supervisors in a call centre.

“We’ve also tailored the global digital training to ensure that we have people coming into the sector in technology software development and artificial intelligence and all the new technologies that are happening in today’s world,” he adds.

Mr. Epstein, who is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Itel (formerly Itelbpo), the region’s largest homegrown global services provider, further notes that upskilling and offering people more opportunities to grow within organisations will see fewer foreigners working in the industry and more Jamaicans taking on top-management jobs.

The former chairman shares that another important highlight of his tenure was seeing the industry grow and become more cohesive.

“I’m very proud that as a country we’ve been able to develop a new industry in a relatively short period of time,” says Mr. Epstein, adding that the sector has helped to fill the unemployment gaps in the country.

He tells JIS News that while there were always challenges, especially when dealing with a large committee, “we managed the different perceptions, the different outcomes – just ensuring that everyone had an ability to sit to say their piece, to express what they believe is right or wrong and to ensure, at the end of the day, we were coming out achieving a common goal”.

Meanwhile, Programme Director for the GSS Project, Marjorie Straw, hails Mr. Epstein as a “champion” for the industry who “quickly stepped up” to the role of Chairman when the loan agreement was signed.

She informs that Mr. Epstein was deemed a “very good candidate” for the position, having served as the first President of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica.

“Yoni just brings to the table that 360-degree perspective. He has a comprehensive and deep understanding of the Global Services Sector, not just the BPO part, [but] the ITO and the KPO,” says Ms. Straw.

She further states that although Mr. Epstein’s tenure has ended and a new chairman has been elected, “he remains one of those persons whom we would still consider getting advice or perspective on generally, for the project and the sector as well”.

CEO, Knightfox App Design Limited, Egbert von Frankenberg has been elected to serve as Chairman for the next three years while CEO, Caribbean HR Solutions, Debra Fraser, was elected as Vice Chairman.