site.btaOutsourcing Industry Generated 3.6% of Bulgaria's GDP in 2016

Sofia, February 6 (BTA) - In 2016 the outsourcing industry generated 1.5 billion euro, 3.6 per cent of Bulgaria's GDP. Expectations are that by 2020 revenues will reach 2.5 billion euro, 4.2 per cent of GDP, representatives of the Sofia Municipal Privatization and Investment Agency (SMPIA) and the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association (BOA) told a BTA-hosted news conference Tuesday.

The industry was one of the largest taxpayers in Bulgaria in 2016 and accounted for 1.5 per cent of all taxes paid in 2016. Companies spent an average of 0.9 per cent of their operating revenues on taxes, said Plamen Tsekov, member of BOA's Board of Directors. The outsourcing industry generated 6.5 per cent of total payroll expenses and accounted for 5 per cent of all social security contributions paid in 2016. These figures are expected to double in the next four years.

The industry's workforce totalled some 48,000 people until a year ago. By 2020, full-time employees are expected to top 62,500 people.

At present, 80 per cent of the outsourcing industry is concentrated in Sofia, but three more centres - in Plovdiv, Varna and Bourgas - are being prepared, said Vladimir Danailov, CEO of the SMPIA. A growing number of firms have been specializing in financial and accounting outsourcing services or in HR outsourcing.

A survey of 389 companies engaged in business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing shows that outsourcing is a profitable sector which has a hard time finding highly skilled employees for more complex projects which generate more value added. More than 70 per cent of employees in the outsourcing industry are Bulgarians. There is no pay discrimination, the experts said.