‘Excited about being back’ - Epstein returns to GSAJ helm, demands stronger government push

WESTERN BUREAU:
Incoming Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) President, Yoni Epstein, is demanding a more aggressive government-led campaign to market Jamaica’s outsourcing industry. 
According to Epstein, rising operating costs and intensifying competition are eroding the country’s advantage.
The founder and chief executive officer of itel will assume office on August 1, returning to the position he first held as the association’s inaugural president in 2012.
Epstein served for approximately four years during his first stint and now returns as the industry confronts reduced employment, the loss of business to competing destinations, and uncertainty surrounding the effect of artificial intelligence.
Epstein believes Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill must become a more forceful champion of the sector, travelling internationally and helping operators to sell Jamaica as a destination for global services.
“The Government of Jamaica has always supported this industry, whether it be this Government or successive governments,” Epstein acknowledged.
“But at this turning point, we need a greater champion. We need a champion who is going to be out there running up and down, helping us to market and sell this business.” 
Epstein said Jamaica must leverage its proximity to North America, service culture, workforce and globally recognised brand to secure a larger share of an international business process outsourcing market valued at more than US$300 billion.
Jamaica’s sector, he said, generates approximately US$900 million in annual foreign exchange inflows and employs just over 40,000 people.
However, employment has fallen sharply from a peak of almost 70,000 workers.
“There have been companies that have left us and companies that have reduced capacity,” Epstein disclosed.
AGGRESSIVE PROMOTION
He said the Government and industry players must now aggressively promote the value Jamaica offers, particularly as competing destinations improve their technology, workforce and cost structures.
“There is no culture like the Jamaican culture. There are no people like the Jamaican people,” he said.
“We are a service-driven economy, and we ourselves have to be champions, and the Government has to be champions. That is the number one thing we need to focus on – how we are going to continue to market this business and this industry to see growth yet again.”
Epstein also wants Jamaica to change the way it measures the success of the global services industry, arguing that too much emphasis has traditionally been placed on the number of people employed.
“We need to change our mindset of looking at this business from a headphone perspective,” he said.
Epstein said the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product, foreign exchange earnings and the wider economy should become more important measures of its performance.
“Growth does not necessarily mean growth in numbers,” he explained. 
“We need to start looking at how this industry grows by increasing gross domestic product. Let us talk more financially, not necessarily only about heads.”
He pointed out that Jamaica is approaching full employment, making it increasingly difficult for companies to achieve expansion solely by recruiting larger numbers of workers.
Technology, he argued, will therefore be critical to increasing productivity, securing more sophisticated contracts and moving the sector into higher-value areas.
Epstein said his administration would concentrate on three major priorities: marketing Jamaica, improving the skills of workers, and advocating for a reduction in the cost of doing business.
High electricity costs will be among the issues targeted by the incoming GSAJ executive, with Epstein revealing that itel is examining the use of solar energy to reduce its operational expenses.
He said electricity is one of the largest expenses faced by global services companies, behind payroll and rental costs.
“We are all major users of electricity in this industry, and we need to look at solar and other ways to reduce business costs,” he said.
Epstein praised international global services company Sutherland for investing in solar energy and encouraged other operators to explore similar initiatives.
“Solar is something that we are looking at very seriously as a business as well, and I think, as an industry, we need to look at that,” he said.
“Our competitive advantage of the past needs to be more than just our people and our proximity.”
The incoming president said inflation had increased costs for businesses and consumers, making efficiency more important to the survival and competitiveness of the sector.
Companies, he said, could also reduce security and other expenses by using artificial intelligence, facial-recognition cameras and automated systems.
“We need to be smart about the cost of doing business and how we can be more efficient,” Epstein stressed.
AI DOMINANCE REJECTED
Epstein has rejected predictions that artificial intelligence (AI) will decimate Jamaica’s global services industry, arguing that the technology could instead help companies become more productive and win new business.
He conceded that AI could reduce the number of people needed to perform some functions but said human involvement would remain a critical part of customer service.
“There is always going to be a human at the end of a telephone. There is always going to be a human at the end of the chat,” he said.
“There may be fewer, but that does not mean companies are not going to generate income. It does not mean companies are not going to win new contracts, and it does not mean they are not going to hire new people as they continue to grow.”
Epstein wants Jamaica to chart a course towards becoming an “AI-first” global services destination, using the technology to complement workers rather than simply replace them.
“That does not mean you are getting rid of people,” he said. 
“It means you are utilising the technology and making people more efficient, which can grow your businesses.”
He said the sector must simultaneously invest in upskilling workers, teaching them how to use AI and preparing them for the more technologically advanced services clients will demand.
Epstein also wants greater attention paid to parishes with higher levels of unemployment as companies consider locations for future expansion.
He said the sector had provided thousands of young Jamaicans who did not pursue tertiary education with their first structured employment opportunity, teaching them discipline, reliability and workplace skills that remained valuable throughout their careers.
“Bring the will and we will teach you the skill,” Epstein said, borrowing a statement he recently heard from a Sandals employee.
He described his return to the presidency as an opportunity to “reinject” himself into an industry he helped to develop from its formative stages.
“I am very excited about being back,” Epstein said.
“I think this is a pivotal point to reinject myself into the industry to help take it to that next level of growth, with the technology boom that we are seeing.”
Epstein will be supported by vice-presidents Gloria Henry of the Port Authority of Jamaica, Leezo Wallace of Unique Vacations, Phil Taylor of ibex, and Lynda Langford of Conduent.
He said the incoming board intends to ensure that the global services industry remains at the forefront of the Government’s economic agenda.
“Under no circumstances are we an industry that should not be looked upon or should not be on the agenda of every single government minister,” Epstein declared.
“This board will ensure that we keep ourselves at the forefront, as we always have, but we are going hardcore at it again. Let us get to work.”
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com