Study Reveals Shift in Global Outsourcing Benefiting Rural BPO Providers

Caleris, a leading business process outsourcing (BPO) provider with rural America delivery locations, announced Tuesday that shifts in global outsourcing have contributed to Caleris increase in size by 30% yearly over the past three years.  The growth of Caleris and other BPO firms with rural America delivery locations is a result of providing better and faster first call resolution outcomes than their counterparts overseas. This news follows on the heels of advisory firm TPI reporting last month an 18% decline in global outsourcing. Additionally, TPI predicted the most growth will come from mid-level IT and BPO and will continue on the trend of large numbers of smaller sized contracts. These TPI predictions create the perfect environment for more onshore jobs in the U.S., which BPO providers with rural delivery locations are taking advantage of.

Earlier this year Caleris reported increasing its employee base by nearly 100 new hires in 2011. Several factors contributed to this growth including access to an educated workforce, affordable cost-of-living, and one of the fastest Internet connections in the country as a result of ground fiber throughout the state of Iowa. These key ingredients are being echoed by other BPO firms with rural delivery locations who have also seen double-digit growth in their operations and staffing over the past few years.

The trend towards lower dollar contracts with multiple service providers allows organizations to get more specialized services and reduces risks involved with high dollar contracts. It also allows jobs to be outsourced to more locations throughout the rural US versus sending them to large organizations overseas.

“With rural American delivery locations, Caleris can exceed offshore quality and compete on a true cost per call and more U.S. businesses are realizing they can achieve better results without shipping the jobs overseas,” said Sheldon Ohringer, co-founder of Caleris. “In two of our rural locations Caleris is the largest employer in town. It’s humbling to be part of a company that is helping keep U.S jobs from going overseas while providing small towns with good paying jobs with healthcare benefits.”

Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, Caleris operates exclusively from three Iowa customer support centers in the communities of Manning, Jefferson, and Newton.  The company specializes in delivering inbound support services including technical support, customer care, corporate helpdesk, product support and Internet helpdesk.  Caleris serves clients in varying industries, ranging from consumer electronics manufacturers to insurance companies.  In addition to contact services, Caleris provides user-generated content moderation for social media websites and also performs product fulfillment.