THE AT Kearney report puts Malaysia third behind India and China in the business process outsourcing (BPO) market.

But a recent observation showed that the country is still lacking in terms of producing the right talent pool.

If this continues, other global offshore locations such as Bangalore, Dalian, Manila and Singapore will continue to move further up the chain.

To compete, Malaysia must devise key strategies to cultivate its human capital needs.

"There has been a lot of misconception in the BPO industry. It's not about lack of opportunities but we are lacking the right talent," says Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali.
MDeC's efforts to promote Malaysia as a shared services and outsourcing (SSO) hub have attracted many multinational companies to set up their shared services centres here.

Among them are Satyam Computer Services Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Infosys Technologies Ltd, Dell Inc, Hewlett Packard Inc and DHL Inc.

These multinationals seek after experienced professionals from the outsourcing industry, offering them attractive salaries and benefits.

Malaysia is managing by hiring fresh graduates and retraining them for BPO work by working closely with international BPO operators here.

"That is why industry readiness is important. We want suitable talents to meet demand," Badlisham says at the recent launch of Wipro's Global Service Management Centre in Cyberjaya.

One of the steps MDeC has taken to address industry readiness is working with industry experts and the Higher Education Ministry.

For example, on a long-term basis, MDeC will work closely with the ministry to extend the graduates' internship programme with industry players.

In the short-term, MDeC is working with industry partners and local campuses to send undergraduates to India to equip themselves with proper training and industry knowledge from global information technology (IT) giants.

"By exposing our local talents to global IT giants such as Satyam, Wipro and Infosys, they will be marketable and competitive on a global level."

To ensure a continuous supply of skills for the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), MDeC, through its Knowledge Workers Development Institute, is also working with local universities to achieve targets.

Some 58,000 IT jobs in the MSC have so far been filled.

The number is expected to grow this year with existing companies as well as new ones contributing to the surge.