Jamaica might have a violent history considering that the Spanish conquered the peaceful Awarkas, way back in the 16th century. But today, the country has risen with passion and perseverance and is a potential place to trade and invest for countries across the globe.

Similar time zone makes Jamaica a convenient nearshore outsourcing location for the outsourcing services buyers from neighboring countries, including the U.S., Latin America and other Caribbean countries. The time zone varies zero to three hours from North America and five to six hours from Europe.

"Jamaica is an ideal destination for investing as its location provides a crossing point between both North and South America," explains Hugh Cresser, Principal Consultant, Emerging Markets, PA Consulting. International direct dialing links subscribers to the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Caribbean and the Jamaica. Digiport International in the Montego Bay Free Zone offers satellite earth stations with support technology to facilitate satellite links and digital switching to carrier networks in North America and Europe.

“Customers like Jamaica because of its ease of access. We have several customers living in Atlanta. It’s just as easy getting on the plane to go to Jamaica as it is to go to Washington, DC. Proximity to the U.S. is certainly a factor, and there are great labor resources,” says Tom Blodgett, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Commercial Operations, ACS, a Dallas-based IT service provider and has become the main player in Jamaica by making 100 acquisitions over a decade and having 5,400 employees.

Jamaica's world-class Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) capabilities are the result of its educated English-speaking workforce, cultural and physical proximity to America and Europe. Global service providers such as ACS, Alliance One, Salary.com, Vista Print, National Asset Recovery Services, e-Services, Paragon Communications, Market Track and Accent marketing, have a prominent presence in the country. There are total 24 delivery centers in the country.

To establish the IT services outsourcing in Jamaica, the country will require huge investments in higher-tier labor resources and infrastructure such as hardware and bandwidth.

“The industries that look toward Jamaica as an outsourcing destination are Insurance, financial entities and customer service-oriented companies. Companies looking toward Jamaica as an outsourcing partner tend to outsource the following disciplines: Debt collection, finance and accounting, HR management, graphic design, payroll, customer service, and insurance claims and tech support,” says Don A. Gittens, Senior Consulting Officer, Knowledge Services, Jamaica Trade and Invest.

As compared to India and the Philippines, the attrition rate in Jamaican BPO is 15 percent lower, reports PA Consulting. Though the labor cost in the country is higher as compared to the other two.

However, as the Caribbean community has the highest rate of emigrants in the world, Jamaican talent pool has also not been able to contribute to its economy to a greater extent. In 2007, the region's 35 percent of the labor force migrated to OECD countries since 1965, according to a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). A closer look at the study reveals that since the independence of the region, approximately 80 percent of Jamaican have grads left the country.

Interestingly, the Jamaican government has taken prominent steps for the outsourcing community by providing 100 percent tax holiday on profits in perpetuity for service companies that export 85 percent or more of their ICT services. Moreover, the Government is also identifying office space for potential investors by being in the process of establishing a technology park for prospective investors.

Chris Nuttall, a member of PA Consulting Group management team and sourcing advisory expert concludes that many U.S. corporations and service providers continue to look toward Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America as viable destinations for near and offshore work. He believes, any Jamaica or Caribbean strategy needs to be designed in the context of a wider global shared services and sourcing strategy, and it remains critical for the supply side service delivery centers to become and remain highly competitive (against both in-house service delivery centers and against viable alternative onshore, near shore and offshore centers) so as to secure and ensure a multiyear stream of increasingly valuable workflow.

Major Outsourcing Cities in Jamaica

Source: Global Services

Attrition Rate in Jamaican Outsourcing Industry

Source: Jamaica Trade and Invest

Main Players: Offshore Call centers and BPO