Tent, IAOP, and BPrO lead new impact sourcing initiative to integrate Venezuelans into Colombian BPO industry

Over the last five years, Colombia has welcomed approximately 2 million Venezuelans who have fled their country due to economic turmoil and insecurity. The Colombian government recently took the historic decision to offer protected status to Venezuelans, giving them the right to work and formally contribute to the economy. At the same time, the business community has also taken steps to support these efforts, advancing the integration of Venezuelan refugees and supporting their Colombian host communities. 

On February 19, nine major he BPO (business process outsourcing) companies –  including Alorica, Emtelco, IGT Solutions, One Link BPO, Outsourcing S.A., Sitel Group®, Sutherland, SYKES, and Teleperformance –  joined an Impact Sourcing initiative spearheaded by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, IAOP, the global BPO association, and BPrO, the Colombian BPO association, that will help integrate Venezuelans into the global BPO supply chain.

The firms announced they have collectively hired over 3,500 Venezuelans to work alongside their Colombian colleagues. This will allow them to lay the foundations to work with multinational companies that use their services to develop more projects and scale up the integration of Venezuelans in the workforce. 

Lucas Gomez, Advisor to the President of Colombia for the Colombian-Venezuelan Border, joined the virtual event to announce the BPO companies that joined the initiative, stating: 

“We are in a magical moment with the adoption of temporary protected status for Venezuelans. Now, we have to move forward with the integration of Venezuelans alongside Colombians in the BPO sector. We believe the BPO sector will be a large generator of employment in Colombia, and we look forward to integrating Venezuelans into the sector.”