MANILA, PHILIPPINES: Until the meltdown on Wall Street, the main worry for call centre managers here was how to reel in more English-speaking graduates and keep them hooked to their headsets.

But with most of the outsourcing industry's revenue coming from the United States - a big chunk of that from financial services - things are not looking too rosy.

Mr Mitch Locsin, executive director of the Business Process Association of the Philippines, said fewer potential investors are scouting for outsourcing locations.

Even so, US outsourcing major Convergys recently announced plans for five new customer contact centres in the Philippines that could mean jobs for up to 7,000 people.

Outsourcing, which includes call centres and back-office operations, has been a star performer of the Philippine economy. It employed 160,000 people in 2006 in a business worth US$2 billion (S$3 billion).

The industry expects the Philippines to account for 10 per cent of the global outsourcing market by 2010, double its current stake.

Investment house JP Morgan believes the Philippines' outsourcing business will not be hurt by a global slump. 'As costs are cut in developed markets in a global recession, business process outsourcing activities could actually rise,' it said in a report.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on November 01, 2008.