Image Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/senate-confirms-biden-fcc-nominee-finally-giving-democrats-a-3-2-majority/

MANILA — A new U.S. crackdown on offshore telecom call centers could put fresh pressure on the Philippine BPO industry, but the bigger threat may not be jobs moving back to America. It may be AI taking them out of the equation altogether.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has opened a rulemaking that would push communications providers to rely less on foreign call centers, citing fraud, privacy and service-quality concerns. For the Philippines, where voice support remains a core outsourcing segment, Washington is no longer looking at offshore call centers mainly through the lens of cost, but through compliance, trust and customer protection.

Policy pressure does not always lead to reshoring. It can also push companies to automate faster. If that happens, Philippine providers may face a double hit: tighter regulatory scrutiny on offshore support and weaker demand for traditional voice work as AI handles more customer interactions.

The FCC proposal is still in its early stages and applies only to providers under the agency’s jurisdiction. But for the Philippine BPO industry, it is an early warning that the next threat to call center jobs may come not just from geography, but from regulation, accelerating technology adoption.

Tags: FCC, offshore call centers, Philippine BPO, AI in BPO, call center automation, telecom outsourcing, outsourcing regulation, reshoring