FCC seeks public input on bringing back US call centre jobs from India, Philippines
The US Federal Communications Commission has proposed measures to encourage businesses to shift call centre jobs back to America, citing concerns over customer service and data security. The move could impact India’s multi-billion-dollar BPO sector, which employs lakhs in outsourced operations.
Washington: The Federal Communications Commission has mooted proposals to encourage businesses to bring back to the US call centre jobs that are usually outsourced to companies in countries such as India, the Philippines or South Africa.
In a statement here, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that over the past few decades, many corporations shifted their customer service and call centre operations from America to a range of foreign countries, with nearly 70 per cent of US companies outsourcing at least one department.
“American consumers deserve call centres that speak proficient English, provide clear answers, and are based here at home, not halfway around the world,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a multi-billion dollar sector in India with employees workforce running into several lakhs.
The Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), adopted by the FCC on Thursday, has sought comments from the public on ways to encourage and facilitate the onshoring of call centres; steps that can be taken to improve customer service and data security and ways to combat illegal robocall scams that originate inside foreign call centres.
“I welcome today’s NPRM to address risks to Americans that originate from call centres located overseas,” FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said in a statement on Thursday.
The FCC has sought comments from the public about ideas such as empowering consumers to transfer calls to a US-based location and requiring that calls involving certain types of sensitive information be handled domestically.
It also sought views on requiring covered providers to disclose the location of the call centre during the customer interaction, and requiring disclosure to consumers of the extent of a provider’s use of US call centres.
The FCC also sought views on requiring workers at call centres to be proficient in American Standard English and otherwise be trained appropriately for resolving issues with US customers.
“Specifically, we are identifying ways to address illegal robocall scams that originate inside foreign call centres, such as ways we can take the profit out of those operations,” Carr said.
Last year, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Keep Call Centres in America Act to discourage companies from moving customer service operations offshore or replacing live agents with AI.
From a cost perspective, onshore call centres in the United States face significantly higher operating expenses, primarily wages, compliance, and real estate.
According to industry benchmarks, US customer service agents earn three to five times more than their offshore counterparts. These higher costs inevitably flow through to the consumer.
The Philippines, India, Colombia, South Africa are the leading countries that US businesses outsource their customer service call centre jobs to.