In the 90's it was common to hear that tourism was the occupation of the future. And that did turn out to be true - with thousands trained and working in what is now the most dominant sector in the economy. And now, in 2023, we're hearing that same thing about Business Process Outsourcing, more commonly known as call centers.
It's grim work - answering calls from complaining strangers in faraway countries - but at 8 to 9 dollars an hour, it's now pulling workers away even from the tourism sector.
One of the most successful outfits has been Transparent BPO. And after 14 years of operation in Belize, they are expanding their headquarters. They did that on Friday evening with the inauguration of a newly built office, with all the modern amenities and technology needed to continue expanding their BPO empire. Jomarie Lanza attended and has this report:
The BPO industry has exploded in Belize, with a continuous intake of call center agents over the years, particularly at Transparent BPO. This led the company to commence construction of a second building at their Phillip Goldson Highway campus, just 18 months ago. And last Friday the new office building, named Seaside 2 was officially inaugurated in the presence of the Prime Minister.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I came here to look at the work that they have been doing and also we are trying to find ways on how we can support the BPO Industry. What Transparent BPO has done is quite impressive when you look at the facilities. They are modern, they are comfortable, they use the latest technology for their employees and provide a lot of support for them. I think it's something that it's a good example of what a BPO is supposed to represent here in Belize."
14 years ago when the company first came to Belize, they began with only 30 employees - now they are on their way to two thousand. Senior VP, Rob Johnson told us how fulfilling it has been to witness the transformation of the BPO sector across Belize. From a small office space to an upscale competitive environment. And they aren't slowing down anytime soon in their progression.
Rob Johnson, Transparent BPO, Senior VP
"So we are celebrating the opening of our second building at seaside so we call Seaside 2 and this brings us all together in Belize City on one campus it gives us two buildings. One that we opened in 2019 then the next building we really just started occupying about a month ago will give us room to bring all of our employees in the city together. And so we have room for about a thousand agents just in one shift, and altogether that could be as many as 1700 employees."
Jo
"I understand that October 1st you guys completed 14 years since you've come to Belize. How does it make you feel to see how much the BPO has transformed and grown over the past couple of years?"
Rob Johnson, Transparent BPO, Senior VP
"It makes us super proud especially for me because this is my home, that we can provide jobs for Belizeans and you know we have over fifteen hundred employees today and we hope to keep growing but also we feel like we've raised the bar for BPO's in general for Belize and so other people are following suit and that's a good thing for our country."
Now with GOB leading the charge, Johnson hopes that prerequisite programmes and courses can be implemented at the Technical and vocational schools for students who aspire to come and work for them in the tech support field upon graduating. The Prime Minister says the ITVET curriculum has to be re-tolled to keep up with this industry:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Unfortunately over the years I don't think it got the necessary attention as to what exactly they are expected to do. I believe now that with the BPO industry that has exploded the last number I saw we have about 13,800 Belizeans working in BPOs and salaries ranged from starting at 5 to as much as 8-9 ten dollars an hour. So that it is becoming a good paying job and so I think that by using the ITVETS we have already made that investment we could partner with the BPOS to see what kind of training is required for an entry level employee. So if we could provide that kind of training for ITVETs it would make it easier for one or our students who after graduation can come and start to almost work immediately in a BPO so we need to find the synergies."
