International business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Webhelp says it will soon employ 674 young people at its Durban office, a little under a year after it officially opened.
Webhelp, which has six operational sites across the country, reveals it has increased its headcount in SA from around 4 200 last year to 5 350, to date, with significant growth at its Durban site.
At its Umhlanga Ridgeside office, the BPO firm says it started with just one client and a workforce of 100 people across two floors. It will soon bring that number to more than 600 employees across the four floors of the office.
The branch has more than doubled in size, states Tammy Chetty, MD of Webhelp SA, attributing the growth to the resilience and sales ability of Durban employees.
“BPO is one of the fastest-growing sectors in South Africa with significant year-on-year growth,” she comments.
“We’ve had significant government and stakeholder support leaning into the incredible job opportunities this sector creates for young, unemployed individuals with little or no work experience.”
According to a Webhelp statement, Durban is fast becoming a global hub for business outsourcing.
Chetty notes the quality of skills found in SA and the high level of English-speaking employees have seen it become a ‘hotspot for BPO’, with organisations across the world looking to the country to offshore non-core work packages and capitalise on the value proposition SA has to offer.
Furthermore, the country has set itself apart in the BPO sector through the sheer resilience demonstrated during the pandemic, she comments.
“Moreover, I feel that the industry showed great resilience by coming together and working in partnership to lobby the role-players in the sector to secure essential service status during lockdown.
“This is one of the sectors that employ the youth. Shutting our doors would have left a large number of young unemployed individuals, resulting in greater risk for families and society as a whole.”
While many competing countries were unable to sustain operations during the pandemic, forcing them to shut their doors, Webhelp remained open with an essential service status and transition by adhering to COVID-19 protocols in the workplace and through employing flexible work operations.
“The local partnerships with BPESA and TIKZN [Trade and Investment KZN] are also incredibly impactful to our operations,” states Chetty.
“We’ve strengthened the operations management team with the appointment of Bradley Pillay as director of operations, joining Mustapha Baker, Michael Deftereos, Kim Woodgate, Morne Amos and Diana Costelha. We are already in discussions with multiple new clients and anticipate our Durban site doubling again within the next year.”
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