Post by montegobayjobs on Sept 24, 2019 16:00:01 GMT
The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) will be facilitating various initiatives to reposition the country to be more competitive in the higher value-added segments in the outsourcing sector.
President of JAMPRO Diane Edwards said the agency has developed a strong marketing strategy for the industry, with the primary focus on attracting more shared services operations to Jamaica.
“We will be going to an event soon in Costa Rica, as they are our role model for shared services, as they have about 23 shared services operations for big companies like bank;, and these are very high-skilled jobs because it is working at the customer service side of banking,” Edwards said.
“Because of the incursion of robotics into the industry, a lot of traditional jobs are going to be lost, as there will be a reduction in costs across a range of industries, so we have to embrace areas such as technology that will continue to be steady in terms of employment, and be ready for the jobs of the future,” she added.
The president noted that focus will also be placed on improving the ecosystem, which includes the establishment of more incubator spaces.
“There is a very successful incubator, run by the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica in Montego Bay and we are going to be working with the Port Authority of Jamaica on their Portmore Informatics Park as we look towards stimulating the development of more technology parks across the island,” Edwards informed.
She noted that “the challenge for Jamaica is, how do we upskill our people to respond to the increasingly technological demands of the marketplace.”
Edwards pointed to the global services sector (GSS) project which is geared at providing better-skilled workers to satisfy the demands of the outsourcing industry.
The five-year project, being financed through an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan support of US$15 million, is focused on upskilling and preparing persons working in the sector for higher-end jobs in areas such as information technology-enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing, and legal process outsourcing.
A critical component of this project will be driven mainly by JAMPRO, where the focus will be placed on attracting investments; increasing exports; the institutional, regulatory and incentive frameworks that govern the GSS; and the development of a digital management system, which will serve as a one-stop-shop platform to consolidate trade and business information and strengthen decision-making.