In this episode of Good Morning BSS World, I return to Latin America for our regular monthly update on the BPO and GBS industry, and I am joined once again by my good friend and LATAM expert, Mauricio Velasquez. Based on most recent Venezuela’s crisis our conversation begins with a timely look at this country – a country that historically played a significant role in regional shared services and IT operations, and which may or not once again attract attention in the coming years. Without diving too deep into politics, we focus on business realities, talent availability, and the long-term potential of Venezuelan professionals both at home and across the region.

We then move to one of the hottest topics impacting nearshoring decisions today: labor costs. Mauricio shares his on-the-ground perspective on Colombia’s recent 23% minimum wage increase and explains why this is a major challenge for BPO and GBS providers operating in the country. We discuss how this shift may influence investor decisions, regional competition, and geographic diversification across Latin America.

The discussion also touches on AI adoption, bilingual talent availability, and the evolving balance between automation and human-centric service delivery. As always, this episode offers practical insights, real numbers, and honest opinions on where the Latin American BPO and GBS market stands today and where it may be heading next.

Key points of the podcast:

Venezuela's potential resurgence as a BPO and IT hub hinges on political stability and the return of skilled Venezuelans to rebuild the business environment.
The significant increase in Colombia's minimum wage could impact the country's competitiveness in the BPO sector, potentially shifting business to other Latin American countries with lower labor costs.
The key to leveraging AI in the BPO sector lies in combining it with human capabilities, ensuring that technology enhances rather than replaces the workforce.

Links:
Mauricio Velasquez on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mavelasquez/
Mauricio’s web page - https://velasquez.co/
Talk to AI about this episode – https://gmbw.onpodcastai.com/episodes/LM5xpXWNtBx/chat

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My name is Wiktor Doktór and on daily basis I run Pro Progressio Club - https://proprogressio.com/en/activity/pro-progressio-club/1 - it's a community of many private companies and public sector organizations that care about the development of business relations in the B2B model. In the Good Morning BSS World podcast, apart from solo episodes, I share interviews with experts and specialists from global BPO/GBS industry.

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You can also write to me. My email address is - kontakt(@) wiktordoktor.pl

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