India comes third in English proficiency test among BPO nations
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 27 July 2010, 23:05 IST
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Bangalore: India has been ranked third in a recent test of English speaking proficiency across BPO nations. India being one of the world's leading outsourcing hub, was ranked below Philippines and Latin America and East Europe, reports Anjali Prayag from Business Line. Philippines tops the board with a score of 61.84, Latin America and East Europe stand next 58 and India in the third place with a score of 55.62. Sushil Eapen, Managing Director of Pearson Clinical and Talent Assessment said "it's only Korea and China that we beat in the test." Pearson Talent Assessment has developed the battery of Versant English proficiency tests that is one of the most widely used tests for testing spoken English competency. Speaking on the Versant scores of the Indian BPO employee, Eapen said, "We are able to compare the proficiency across countries because our tests are used worldwide and we have access to results globally." "Filipinos and Latin Americans are closer to American culture because of historical reasons. Also in order to cash in on the BPO boom, the Filipino government has made an excellent effort in making English education compulsory," said S. Nagaraj, Founder and Chief People Officer, 24/7 Customer. Milind Godbole, President, APAC, Aditya Birla Minacs said that India perhaps needs to build on its "filler-based conversation skills." "We are now establishing a global capability giving clients the best global business solutions across various centres," he said. The Indian BPO industry, growing at 15-16 percent, now employs around a million people. It is estimated to reach revenues of $14.7 billion by the end of the current fiscal. According to industry estimates, the current voice-to-non-voice business ratio is around 60:40.

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