The impact of AI on jobs in developing countries is limited, the World Bank concludes from research. For contact centers, however, the situation is slightly different.  

 

The voluminous 380-page report is the first comprehensive assessment of what AI means for low- and middle-income countries. The main conclusion: the impact of AI on jobs in developing countries is less severe than expected. However, customer service jobs are explicitly identified as a risk to middle-class jobs in those same developing countries.

The report is structured around three themes: adopt (purchasing and using existing AI tools); adapt (adapting tools to local language, data, standards, and user restrictions); and advance (building frontier models and infrastructure ourselves).

For most developing countries, 'advance' is not a realistic goal, according to the World Bank, 'adopt' alone yields too little, and 'adapt' is where the profit lies. That is also the sweet spot that customer contact operations capitalize on.

The World Bank pays explicit attention to the BPO sector and reports that countries relying on business process outsourcing (call centers and back office are explicitly mentioned) are coming under increasing pressure due to AI. In recent years, for example, the BPO industry has generated many jobs and growth in India and the Philippines.

However, as AI improves at office and knowledge tasks, clients will need less offshore capacity in the coming years, the World Bank expects. In Southeast Asia alone, the number of vacancies in the BPO sector decreased by about 20%. This effect is particularly visible among companies operating in international supply chains. Among (local) South Asian companies themselves, the decline was less than 2%. The World Bank's explanation: multinationals experience little friction when shifting automated tasks across borders.

The institution therefore advocates for solutions regarding upskilling and reskilling of the affected employee groups at multinational BPOs. The larger the company, the greater the likelihood of job losses due to the relocation of work packages.

Conversely, there is also a risk. If a service provider has a large footprint, outsourcers must take into account that their BPO service provider is more likely and easier to move projects or work packages.

The report (380 pages) can be downloaded here.

(Ziptone/Erik Bouwer)

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