The Center for Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD) has reported on the increasing growth of the call center industry in the Domincan Republic, noting that by the end of 2006, the Dominican contact center industry boasted over 40 centers employing more than 18,000 people.
According to the Zagada Institute, a business development analytics firm, the Dominican Republic is the leading call center location in the Caribbean and Central America, followed by Jamaica, which employs roughly 10,000 agents throughout 16 centers, Panama with 9,500 agents, Costa Rica with 4,500 agents and El Salvador with 4,000 agents.
Eddy Martinez, Executive Director of the Dominican Republic's Center for Investment and Exports (CEI-DR for its Spanish acronym), expects the number of business process outsourcing (BPO) agents to grow to 30,000 by the end of 2007. "We are bullish on the BPO industry because we have seen the explosive demand for Spanish-language backoffice, telemarketing and customer support services," says Martinez. "We are now starting to reap the benefits of our investments in training and technology, and our positioning as the Spanish-language partner to countries such as India, who are global BPO industry leaders."
There are several other contributing factors to the Dominican Republic's emergence as a Call Center/BPO destination. A key one, according to current BPO investors, is its proximity to the United States, which makes it attractive to U.S.-based companies who want their offshore operations to be "nearshore." The Dominican Republic is located less than 850 miles from Miami, or about a two-hour flight. The Dominican Republic is not only physically close to the U.S. mainland, but its cultural affinity also makes it easier to find skilled bilingual agents at a time when the labor pool is tight.
Another reason for the Dominican Republic's rise as a call center haven is that operating costs are much lower than those of other destinations, such as India, Chile, Puerto Rico or Mexico. According to CEI-RD, it is easier to find skilled bilingual agents at a reasonable rate, as competitive wages in the Dominican Republic can be as much as 70% lower than the cost for a worker in the United States.
