Author: Heather Littlejohns | Director-Operations
at Aditya Birla Minacs

Selecting a country, region, state and city of interest in Latin America, or any region of the world, involves a significant process inclusive of tireless research, face-to-face communication and visits as well as validation of assumptions and confirmation of facts. In an earlier blog post, I described the site selection process in detail. In this post, I’ll give you the straight goods on some emerging locations that you might want to consider for your next contact center expansion.

	Choosing the Right Nearshore Location!

Montego Bay, Jamaica offers access to the largest English speaking population in the Caribbean; strong cultural affiliation with the West and a highly educated population. Contact center work is desirable and working in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is a competitive and viable alternative to employment in the tourist industry. A contact center career provides stable employment in an office environment, benefits, incentives and advancement opportunities. At Minacs, our Jamaica team services Canadian and US clients and is consistently ranked number one in customer satisfaction when benchmarked against their competitors. Our clients view Montego Bay as a “closer to home” nearshore option. A strong recommendation can be made for Canadians and Europeans alike seeking solid customer service experiences through a team of service oriented representatives that have excellent soft skills. Excellent examples of leadership in this country come through the Bank of Nova Scotia’s international presence and JAM PRO’s commitment to Foreign Direct Investment.

it is critical to understand that the following factors exist in each selection:

• Highly developed technology infrastructure
• Comparable and qualified labor pool to that of Canada and the United States through education and volumes of people who are underemployed and unemployed
• Significant emphasis by local government on the BPO services sector and its growth
• Democratically elected government; strong affiliation with the “West” and progressive strategies leading to consideration as top “emerging” markets
• Strong education system; English and multilingual
• Competitive pricing, low attrition and a “niche” in each market
• Safe and secure working environment comparable to that of any other major urban center. For example, Chicago has higher crime rates than any city selected here.