From Revenue to Impact Sourcing: Turning Workforce Risk into ROI

Now it's Heard 

The industry has a voice. Now it’s Heard.

Our first Heard article from BPO Bullhorn examined how U.S. legislation could reshape the outsourcing landscape and reignite discussion around impact sourcing. This edition continues that conversation with Ninoshka Linde, a leader whose experience spans delivery, workforce design, and client operations.

Their view looks beyond policy to practice. What happens when workforce strategy becomes a lever for both resilience and ROI? How can the private sector turn hiring pressure into opportunity that strengthens teams and communities alike?

Here, Ninoshka Linde, Founder, Latam Thrives, outlines a model that shows how inclusive hiring, when built for business realities, delivers measurable performance and long-term value.

Loud and Clear: Ninoshka Linde, global speaker and strategist advancing impact sourcing as a driver of workforce resilience and sustainable growth.

In the BPO industry, we talk a lot about metrics. Cost per hire, ramp-up time, attrition rate, customer satisfaction. But behind every number is a person. And behind every person, a story that begins long before we hand them a headset and hope they stay.

For many of us, the story starts with a problem we know too well: high churn, rising recruitment costs, and a workforce that never quite feels ready. We advertise more. We pay more. We ask more of our teams. But when the talent pool shrinks faster than we can fill it, even our best strategies become unsustainable.

I’ve lived this firsthand. As a provider, a client, and a leader in the industry. The pressure to meet ramp targets kept climbing, while the number of qualified candidates kept falling. And for a while, we did what most do: increase bonuses, launch job fairs, rework filters, push the teams harder. Until the math just didn’t work anymore.

That’s where this model began. Not as a social initiative, but as a business decision.

We created a co-investment program to train “near-hires.” Candidates who didn’t meet the requirements yet, but had the potential to grow into them. Designed by the private sector and funded per hire, it offered 4 to 10 weeks of accelerated training aligned with what the industry actually needed: English, soft skills, CX delivery. Nothing more. Nothing less.

What we didn’t realize at first is that we were building something more than a talent pipeline. We were building a model of impact sourcing.

This kind of impact sourcing isn’t a CSR campaign or an ESG report. It’s a strategy. One that identifies high-potential individuals in developing markets. Young people without prior access to formal jobs, raised by single parents, coming from informal economies, often supporting entire families. And prepares them to perform.

The result?

When you compare graduates of the program to traditional hires, the difference is undeniable.

Retention exceeds 80%, compared to the industry’s 55–60%.

Attrition-related savings range from 30 to 40%.

CX performance metrics improve (CSAT, NPS). 

Loyalty prevails.

This isn’t about hiring agents. It’s about building workforce resilience.

But it goes further.

96% of graduates secured formal employment, and 50% remained in the industry even a decade later.

92% became the primary financial providers for their families.

96% of those who once considered migration ultimately chose to stay.

Immediately after completing the program, graduates earned 2.4 times the minimum wage, comparable to a university professional. They reinvested that income into better housing, healthcare, and education for their siblings.

Each hire supported an average of 3.2 family members and created 2.5 indirect jobs.

In total, the program has impacted more than 50,000 lives.

That’s not just placement. That’s long-term stability. That’s what I call the virtuous cycle of job creation, where business impact and human impact grow side by side.

This is what real impact sourcing looks like: measurable, replicable, and sustainable, when led by the private sector and tailored to industry realities.

There is no single version of this model. The countries, skill gaps, and training needs may vary. But the core principle holds: invest early, align with purpose, and hire for performance—not privilege.

So what happens if we don’t?

We keep spending more to get less. We lose talent to migration. We force good teams to operate under constant pressure. And we continue building growth strategies on unstable ground.

But if we do… if we adopt smarter, inclusive hiring models designed for the markets we operate in, we do more than close the talent gap. We build loyalty, reduce costs, increase performance, and contribute to long-term competitiveness.

That’s not just a better pipeline. That’s a stronger business.

If you’re serious about transforming workforce risk into ROI, the next move is yours.

Follow Heard

Get the full picture every week: Subscribe to our email newsletter for weekly signal tracking across the industry.

Be part of the conversation: Follow BPO Bullhorn on LinkedIn for debates, polls, and industry insights.

Don’t miss the next conversation that’s shaking up BPO and CX. Tap Subscribe on our LinkedIn newsletter to get future editions of Heard straight to your inbox.