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May 17, 2007
Source:
http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/sections/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199601445
by Imrana Khan Global Services
Teledirect Telecommerce (Teledirect), a Malaysian contact
center, SMRC Learning Alliance and London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(LCCI) have jointly launched Malaysia 's first certified professional contact
center agent program.
The duration of the program is three weeks for individuals
arriving to work in the contact center industry. The program includes two weeks
of in-class learning followed by a week's attachment at Teledirect. The company
has also committed to offer employment opportunity to selected qualified
agents.
The contact center industry in Malaysia is likely to grow at a
compound annual growth rate of 14.5% between 2005 and 2012, according to Frost
& Sullivan. And the biggest worry of this industry is the lack of skilled
labor. The industry has been facing a scarcity of skilled workforce because of
the perception that there is no future ahead for contact center agents. Such
programs can also be helpful in changing such perception.
According to callcentres.net, there will be a projected increase
of 9,000 seats in 2007 for the Malaysian contact center. In 2003, the number of
total seats in call centers was 12,000, which grew by 15% and reached to 13,750
in 2004. This also shows the potential of grabbing more attention of young
generation.
The industry growth also proves that the market is expanding at
a large extent in the country. Companies like Atos Origin, Cisco, HCL BPO,
Interactive Intelligence and Hitachi Data Systems have their contact centers in
the country.
The 2003 Contact Center Benchmarking Report of callcentre.net revealed that the
principal industry sectors in Malaysia are telecommunications, transport and
freight and banking, finance and insurance, representing 67% of all call center
seats.
In 2006 Tholons, an advisory firm, listed the capital region of
Kuala Lumpur amongst the top outsourcing destinations across the world. The
city's got plus marks in terms of physical infrastructure ¡ª which is one of
the best in the world. The industry also enjoys good rating in terms of
attrition rates, which is very low compared to the attrition rate in China and
India . But the city lagged behind in terms of availability of skilled labor.
But initiatives the professional agent program will certainly help the country
cope up with this problem successfully.
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