Business service providers like TaskUs, Inc., benefitted from the pandemic, said Jaspar Weir, co-founder and president the Texas-headquartered outsourcing and offshoring consulting company. Its Philippine workforce, spread over 10 sites, has doubled since coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) struck.
“When people get comfortable working at home, it no longer matters if somebody works in the office next to you or … anywhere in the world. Outsourcing in general wins,” he said, adding that clients have expanded their outsourcing requirements in low-cost destinations like the Philippines.
The Philippines is “the premier place” for services like English support, content moderation, and data operations, he added.
At a roundtable discussion on Aug. 15, Kris G. Mandap, vice president of operations of TaskUs Ortigas-Phoenix, said that there are close to 20,000 employees in the country, more than double the workforce prior to the pandemic.
“We are able to provide livelihood for a lot of people,” he said.
Fueling that growth are the company’s learning experience services, as well as its risk and response solutions that focus on fraud, risk, and compliance.
Providing e-Learning systems and development programs was born out of a client request that TaskUs take over its in-house training after they observed that the outsourcing company was “doing a good job training its people.”
“We commercialized that offering. We’re always looking at new services that clients ask for,” Mr. Weir said, adding that this also provides advancement opportunities for TaskUs employees.
Dean Van Ormer, TaskUs’ senior vice president and head of the Southeast Asia region, said that employees stay with the organization because they have multiple ways to move up.
“We have a whole academy designed so — if they want to move up through first-, second-, third-level management — this is all at their disposal,” he said. “If they want to invest the time to do it, we invest the resources to educate them.”
The key differentiator for TaskUs, he added, has been realizing that “creating jobs that people love going to … is a good business model.”
TaskUs’ first office was located above a vulcanizing shop alongside Aguinaldo Highway, Cavite. Conceived in 2008 as a virtual personal assistant company, Mr. Weir and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Bryce Maddock eventually decided to develop TaskUs into a business servicing high-growth startups.
“We realized that if we can attract the best people, then those people can deliver the best work for our clients,” Mr. Weir said. “As long as we keep investing in that employee lifecycle, it pays back.”
TaskUs (Nasdaq: TASK) reported on Aug. 8 second quarter total revenues of $246.5 million, representing 36.9% of year-on-year growth. In the same period, the company generated 51% of its revenues in the Philippines. — Patricia B. Mirasol
