Work From Home Arrangement For BPO Sector to be Made More Efficient

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, says the Government is working to make the work from home arrangement for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector smoother and more efficient.

“The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused us to make a close review of the activities in Jamaica’s global services business and especially in the BPO sector.  In the process, we have decided to look at how best to make work at home operate more smoothly, efficiently, and mutually beneficial to all stakeholders,” he said.

Mr. Hill, who was making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate, on Friday (July 16), noted that in this review, it has been observed that the working arrangement between the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) and the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) members and operators “is less than efficient and needs a thorough reworking.”

He said that many operators in the global services sector find the JSEZA to be overly bureaucratic sometimes, often inefficient and that it takes too long to get responses and decisions.

“For instance, operators say it takes up to eight days to get approval to move equipment from sites to work at home facilities – that’s just too long (and) JSEZA quarterly reports often ask for information that is not regularly tracked,” he noted.

Mr. Hill said the operators are requesting that the Government looks at giving them their own legislative arrangements, possibly separate from being under the JSEZA.

“We are looking at this, no decision has been made yet. We are reviewing these requests and comments and more will be said on this in the near future,” he noted.

Mr. Hill stressed that the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation places great importance on this growing sector of the economy and wants to take all the necessary steps to make sure the BPO and other sectors within the GSAJ, have every operational incentive and ease within the country’s laws and regulations, to grow and prosper.

The Minister noted that after his appointment in the Ministry in September 2020, he quickly got involved in getting an additional six-month extension for the work at home policy for the BPO sector in December 2020.

“I have been negotiating with the Ministry of Finance (and the Public Service) since that time, and just before the end of June and the last six months extension, (Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke) and his team agreed to a longer one year extension of the work at home policy,” he said.

Mr. Hill pointed out that this further extension allows investors and operators more planning and operating time, and is “something for which the operators have been pressing.”