BELTRAIDE Says Belize BPOs “Not Necessarily Directly Impacted”

BELTRAIDE says Belize’s BPO sector is holding steady for now. Despite growing concerns over the U.S. “Keep Call Centers in America Act”, Executive Director Ishmael Quiroz says there’s no immediate threat to local outsourcing jobs.

The objective behind the act is to “reverse the trend” of call center operators that “shifted operations overseas and have shut down or downsized their U.S. operations.”

Companies that shift their operations overseas could face a ban on receiving federal grants and guaranteed loans for five years unless they return an equal or greater number of jobs to the U.S.

“It’s certainly something that we need to monitor with concern to see how things pan out. We know that things are generally fluid in this regard in terms of various policies coming out of the US,” Quiroz said. “In discussing closely with the sector, we understand that Belize doesn’t necessarily stand directly impacted, at least not immediately.”

Quiroz added that “there are ways” in which BPO companies in Belize are protected. “The fact that most of our BPOs are private entities and not necessarily depending on or accessing federal funding,” he said. “Employment is increasingly dependent on the BPO sector in Belize. We’ll do our very best to ensure they are aware of potential impacts. There’s a lot of potential in it still.”