The Western Cape business process outsourcing (BPO) sector added more than 4 400 jobs to its base in the 2014/15 financial year.
The jobs were created through foreign investment in the sector.
As a region, the Western Cape accounts for about 60% of all international BPO jobs in SA at 16 000. Of these, 10 000 were created in the last three years, showing the industry is accelerating, with further growth expected in the years ahead.
The entire industry employs more than 210 000 people in SA, many of whom work at companies such as Amazon, British Gas, EE, 02, Qantas, Shop Direct and Vodafone.
"This is a wonderful achievement and is testament to the hard work of both the public and private sectors in making the region an investment location of choice," says Gareth Pritchard, CEO of Business Process enabling SA (BPeSA) Western Cape.
"Although domestic operations still make up the majority of jobs in the region, almost all recent job growth has come about through foreign investment, a trend we see continuing in the future," he adds.
International outsourcers working out of the Western Cape include Capita, Merchants, Mindpearl, Teleperformance, Serco, WNS, Webhelp as well as various international brands such as Asda, Amazon, Bloomberg, Engen, iiNet, 02, Qantas, State Street, Shell, Shop Direct and Vodafone.
BPeSA, an umbrella body for the sector, had estimated about 7 627 jobs would be created in the sector by March. The body, which recently re-launched and appointed a new CEO, has yet to provide an update to this target.
In April, BPeSA said Tebogo Molapisane joined it as CEO, ending a period under which Pritchard ran the organisation on an interim basis. The top-level change follows a re-launch of the national organisation and a $500 000 (R6 million) boost from the Rockefeller Foundation, to "assist in getting the national organisation back up and running".
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