The companies that provide call center services have positioned themselves in recent years as one of the main employers of young people in the country.
According to the head of the Ministry of Economy (Minec), María Luisa Hayem, only during 2022 will the main companies in this area generate around 28,000 bilingual jobs.
In addition, it was mentioned that in the last five years, the annual growth rate of jobs in the sector has been 8%.
“I want to highlight the role of the call center sector in our economy because, in addition to being one of the largest generators of employment in our country, it is one of the sectors that generates wages above the minimum wage,” said the minister.
These statements were made at the inauguration event of a new WebHelp operations center, which a French firm installed in the country, in which 1,400 new jobs were opened.
This same company reported that since 2021 it has doubled its presence in the territory and has hired 4,500 people with a remuneration that, in many cases, exceeds two minimum wages.
On the other hand, the official highlighted that the formal positions provided by BPO (business process outsourcing) companies added to the employability milestone that was reached in 2022, when 968,245 people were registered with the Institute. Salvadoran Social Security (ISSS)
“The business-friendly environment is now recognised. El Salvador is going through the best performance in history, we show the highest levels of exports, imports, and production; in employment, we have reached the largest number of jobs in the formal sector », she highlights.
Government projects
Minister Hayem excludes the fact that as a government, they promote a public-private model for the training of young people, in which call centers have taken a leading role.
“In 2022, we carried out a pilot project with 10 call center companies, and we were lucky to see how 70% of the young people who received training managed to join a job in the sector,” she said.
At the same time, she makes sure that by 2023 they plan to execute an initiative called English to Connect, with which they hope to generate, in a short period of time, the talent demanded by companies installed in the territory.
“Our close relationship with the sector in recent years has allowed us to become partners in the implementation of talent projects that will change the lives of thousands of young people in our country,” she concluded.