June 14, 2004

Cape Town's contact centre industry could create at least 1 000 new jobs this year, according to Luke Mills, executive director of specialist development agency Calling the Cape, a Section 21 company that promotes the Cape Town region for national and international investment in contact centres and business process outsourcing.

There are about 120 contact centres in the city area, representing 10 000 jobs. Mills says his company is hosting international delegations at the rate of about one a week. Of the 30 potential investors who have visited this year, three are in talks with his company to set up new call centre or back office processing facilities.

At the same time, outsourcers - who host contact centres on behalf of other companies - are experiencing growth of 30% every three months, with much of their new business coming from overseas. Mills says interest has been expressed from companies in Britain, Netherlands, the USA and Canada.

Contact centre careers are becoming an increasingly attractive career option. Mills says a recent study by a UCT academic found that unemployment rates for young people with tertiary qualifications were just over 15% in 2002, and only around 10% of the 800 IT graduates in and around Cape Town last year found work locally.

For new graduates, contact centres offer competitive salaries, excellent working conditions, good career prospects and the opportunity to gain good experience in one of the fastest-growing global industries, says Mills.

Skills shortages at management level mean that those with some experience and leadership ability can reap handsome rewards.

South African contact centre agents are highly regarded for having a good "customer touch", he says Recent international investors have also commented on South Africans' clear accents, enthusiasm, willingness to learn and high productivity.

Local language skills are also a plus, both in English and Afrikaans. A group of Afrikaans speakers who recently underwent three months' training in Dutch, is now handling customer service queries for a travel company in the Netherlands.