Traditional offshore outsourcing models are undergoing a structural transformation. According to the latest report from Everest Group, the global customer service outsourcing market reached $98 billion in 2024, with the nearshore share rising from 18% in 2020 to 29%, while growth in traditional offshore hubs like India and the Philippines has slowed to 5%.
Drivers include increasing demand for language and cultural alignment, as well as a rise in the proportion of complex queries escalated to human agents after AI handles simple inquiries. For example, Bank of America (BoA) assigned 30% of routine queries to AI voice bots, with the remaining 70% of complex cases handled by its nearshore team in Mexico. This resulted in a 12% increase in customer satisfaction, at a cost only 8% higher than a fully offshore model.
GlobalConnect’s HybridBPO model integrates a three-tier structure of AI pre-screening, nearshore agents, and offshore agents. In a recent case serving a European e-commerce client, AI handled 65% of return and exchange inquiries, the nearshore team (Spain) managed complaint escalations, and the offshore team (Philippines) handled email support. Overall costs were 22% lower than a fully manual outsourcing model.
Looking ahead, outsourcing contracts will place greater emphasis on flexibility and AI integration capabilities. It is projected that by 2025, more than 50% of new contracts will include AI service-level agreements (SLAs).