'S'pore BPOs' pay triple that of Indian BPOs'

Call centre employees in Singapore command at least three times higher wages than their counterparts in India, a news report said today.

A survey by a recruitment firm in Singapore showed that call centres in the island republic were recruiting employees at a faster pace than the regional average, and high wages did not seem to pose a deterrence.

Recruitment firm Kelly Services found entry level and experienced Singapore call centre operators were, on an average, paid $12,668 and $16,782 per annum respectively, Singapore's The Straits Times said.

The survey, considered to be the first of its kind of the booming Asian call centre industry showed that call centre staff in Thailand were the lowest paid, at $ 2,616 a year for entry-level staff, and $ 3,051 a year for experienced staff, (with a two year working experience).

The survey covered 57 call centres across nine countries hiring more than 23,000 staff. Among these, 11 centres are found in Singapore, 19 in Malaysia and 8 each in India and the Philippines.

It also found that in Asia, percentage of new recruits - those hired in the last six months - was 6.5% of total staff strength.

In Singapore, the percentage was higher at 7%, but still lower than India (12.5%) and Malaysia (7.3%), the paper said.

Industries most keen on hiring Singapore call-centre operators were involved in manufacturing, financial services, hospitality and tourism, as well as those in IT and outsourcing, the paper quoted the survey as saying.