Demand for Spanish-speakers growing in Philippines, For accountants, engineers, architects, nurses, etc. Options

[LazyAzian]

MANILA, Philippines—There is a growing demand for bilingual Spanish and English speakers from call center and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors in the country, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines said Wednesday.

At the trade fair of the Joint Foreign Chambers, Emmanuel Gamboa, executive director of the Spanish chamber here, said companies like Intra Soluciones and accenture "have too many Spanish clients they do not know what to do with."

The Instituto De Cervantes, the Spanish cultural center in Manila, is constantly being requested to provide translators not just for call center jobs, but for translation of transcript of records, and medical and legal documents, said institute director Jose Rodriguez.

"Almost every day...we receive a request in writing for professionals (in the medical, engineering, and information technology sectors) who are bilingual (in Spanish and English)," he said.

Rodriguez said the demand is persistent enough to prompt the institute to create a special syllabus for the call centers and BPOs.

He said the demand has been growing, proof from the institute's end is that around 7,000 students are enrolled in its Spanish language classes for school year, 2007-2008.

Aside from Spain, Rodriguez pointed out that the US is also a market for Spanish-speaking call center agents.

Right now, he said, there are 45 million to 50 million Spanish speakers in the US, more than the 40 million population of Spain. He said it is foreseen that the US would be bilingual by 2015.

"The reality is there is a big market for Spanish speakers," he said.

Rodriguez said Portuguese-speaking Brazil has also shifted to Spanish, requiring 200,000 Spanish teachers.

"Brazil is another dimension altogether," he said.

"So learn Spanish or be left out," he added.

Jose Primo Santos, commercial and economic analyst at the Spanish embassy, said call centers and BPOs are likely to experience a boost with the global financial crisis as companies try to reduce overall cost without sacrificing efficiency.

Santos and Gamboa said that aside from call center agents, "talented" Filipino accountants, engineers, and other professionals will have a better chance at finding jobs in BPOs and consulting companies serving Spanish-speaking clients.

Recently, Gamboa said the Spanish Banco Santander acquired three banks from the US and the United Kingdom. This, he said, would require people who are fluent in both English and Spanish.

"The infrastructure (of the acquired banks) are in English and would need translation into the Spanish platform...Between the Philippines and India, which have created the infrastructure for call centers and BPOs, who do you think would (Banco Santander) prefer?" Gamboa said.

Gamboa pointed out the close cultural and historical links between the Philippines and Spain, and the many Spanish words in the Filipino language, "especially in Zamboanga where Chabacano is spoken."

IMO, the only way we can beat India in the BPO sector is if the thousands of Spanish call centers, companies, corporations and industries are finally able to hire Spanish and English speaking Filipinos in Philippines.

A Spanish-speaking Filipinos get's hired easily by BPO call centers. Only 30% of English speaking Filipinos get hired by BPO's while almost 90% of Spanish-speaking Filipinos are generally accepted.


This post has been edited by LazyAzian: Nov 20 2008, 04:43 PM

[orient]

I wonder if there are call centers in Zamboanga.

[silangan]

I wonder if there are call centers in Zamboanga.

Chabacano is more related to Cebuano than to Spanish. A pure Chabacano can understand Cebuano but never Spanish.

[angel08]

io un nativo de zamboanga.. ta intende palabra de espanyol pokito y ta puede le tambien - im a ntive of zamboanga n cud understand n read spanish a little.. if it is in bisaya it wud not be like dat... chavacano is closer wit spanish n not bisaya.. hello is quetal same in spanish in bisaya it is kamusta, right? chavacano is broken spanish...

[silangan]

io un nativo de zamboanga.. ta intende palabra de espanyol pokito y ta puede le tambien - im a ntive of zamboanga n cud understand n read spanish a little.. if it is in bisaya it wud not be like dat... chavacano is closer wit spanish n not bisaya.. hello is quetal same in spanish in bisaya it is kamusta, right? chavacano is broken spanish...

Maybe you can understand some Spanish words, but surely you can't communicate in Spanish. ......but you can SPEAK Cebuano right?

[guruwise]

Maybe you can understand some Spanish words, but surely you can't communicate in Spanish. ......but you can SPEAK Cebuano right?

Had a conversation with a filipino outside edzen moneychanger ermita who was not Chavacano but interacted with them in his province. It must have rubbed off very well with him as we spoke for maybe 15 mins. He understood Spanish 100%. Yes I spoke slowly and clearly but no problem. His Chavacano was simple tarzan Spanish with no verbs. Easy to understand.
For the resord both Kumusta( Como estas?)and Ketal ( ?Que Tal?) hail from Spain. Both mean Hi how are ya? Then again, in Ermita and moreso Sta cruz the rest of the people one tends to meet on the street hussling something speak very simple English. Not tarzan English but somehting a few steps up. Both English and Spanish if properly learned are helpful for the PI.
The call center business is booming and Filipinos have a great advantage in Spanish as it can easily be learned. Small investment in time for a good pay off. Just imagine a hard to pronounce language like Mandarin! Impossible for most Filipinos in 100 years. Chinese also do not look on the filipino with any respect at all and I dont think they would like to have them calling their homes or assisting them with a credit card problem. Spaniards and Americans or Australians have a neutral stance toward filipinos so they are a better prospect business wise. Americans and Australians tend to get pissed when an Indian from bangalore calls and pretends to be from Sydney!!! Pronounciation is of utmost imprtance in the call center business.