The global services market registered modest growth in 2024, with revenue increasing by 2-4% to approximately US$290 billion. This growth marked a continued deceleration from the strong post-COVID-19 rebound, driving an approximately 12% surge in global services delivery revenue in 2022. Growth slowed further in 2023, with revenue rising by only 3-5%. Moreover, the global services market saw a marginal increase in headcount in 2024, with roughly 200,000 FTEs added to the workforce across regions. In this Global Locations State of the Market Report 2025, we analyze the global services locations landscape, evaluate developments, and assess key trends to design an optimal locations portfolio strategy. The Key Trends report in this analysis examines global locations and the center landscape, adoption trends from 2024, and leaders’ priorities for building a successful location mix in 2025. The report also analyzes headcount and revenue growth trends in the global services market at geographic/regional levels. It includes a breakdown of new center setups by geography and function, including IT application development and maintenance, IT infrastructure, engineering, R&D, contact center operations, and non-voice business services.

Over the past several years, South Africa has emerged as a key hub for global service delivery, attracting organizations in search of competitive and future-ready locations. The country offers a large pool of fluent, neutral-accent English speakers who are widely recognized for their soft skills and ability to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Strong government support, a mature and stable outsourcing ecosystem, and a favorable business environment support this talent advantage. Additionally, South Africa’s time-zone alignment with Europe and deep cultural affinity with the US and UK markets enhance collaboration and drive higher customer satisfaction. Developed by Everest Group in collaboration with BPESA, this refreshed analysis goes beyond high-level positioning to unpack the unique attributes and structural strengths that make South Africa an attractive option for global service delivery. In this report, we highlight the key pillars of South Africa’s value proposition: infrastructure and enabling environment, mature industry, people advantage, assured service excellence, cost arbitrage, and tactical advantage. Scope Geography: South Africa Services: IT and BP Contents In this report, we examine South Africa’s: Global services value proposition/li> Infrastructure and enabling environment Mature industry and value-driven growth People advantage Assured service excellence Cost savings potential and business advantage Tactical advantage Locations Insider™ Sourcing and Vendor Management

Everest Group’s Location Spotlight reports provide a crisp, insightful assessment of established and emerging/next-wave global services delivery locations by country and city. The reports help global sourcing practitioners or location strategy professionals stay ahead of the competition in understanding key market dynamics and the related opportunities each location presents. Our report on Cape Town, South Africa, offers data-backed research to understand the market’s attractiveness in terms of: Key drivers, challenges, and untapped opportunities for the global sourcing industry Talent and skills availability (at both entry and experienced levels) Depth and maturity across functions Financial attractiveness (including wage inflation and attrition) Delivery presence of enterprises and service providers Key languages supported Key environment risks (such as macroeconomic, geopolitical, infrastructure, safety and security, and legal and regulatory) Location Spotlight, combined with other reports in Everest Group’s Locations Insider™ subscription, makes for the industry’s most comprehensive resource on location trends and perspectives. The Locations Insider™ subscription provides up-to-date and actionable insights on which enterprises can base their location decisions and strategies.

Everest Group’s Location Spotlight reports provide a crisp, insightful assessment of established and emerging/next-wave global services delivery locations by country and city. The reports help global sourcing practitioners or location strategy professionals stay ahead of the competition in understanding key market dynamics and the related opportunities each location presents. Scope Our report on Morocco offers data-backed research to understand the market’s attractiveness in terms of: Key drivers, challenges, and untapped opportunities for the global sourcing industry Talent and skills availability (at both entry and experienced levels) Depth and maturity across functions Financial attractiveness (including wage inflation and attrition) Enterprises’ and providers’ delivery presence Key languages supported Key operating and business environment risks (such as macroeconomic, geopolitical, infrastructure, safety and security, and legal and regulatory) Location Spotlight, combined with other reports in Everest Group’s Locations Insider™ subscription, makes for the industry’s most comprehensive resource on location trends and perspectives. The Locations Insider™ subscription provides up-to-date and actionable insights on which enterprises and providers can base their location decisions and strategies.

Customer Experience Management (CXM) in EMEA – Provider Compendium 2024 provides detailed and fact-based snapshots of 39 CXM providers offering services in the EMEA region. Each profile offers a comprehensive view of the provider’s scale of operations, proprietary digital solutions, partnership ecosystem, portfolio mix, and delivery locations. The compendium will enable providers to benchmark their capabilities against their competition, while CXM buyers will be able to assess the providers based on their specific capabilities. Scope Domain: CXM Industry: all Geography: EMEA Contents In this research, we feature profiles of 39 CXM providers offering services in the EMEA region and examine their: Services’ suite and scale of operations, including key leaders, FTEs, revenue, recent developments, proprietary solutions, and partnerships Key delivery locations worldwide Capabilities, major engagements, and revenue by geography, industry, and buyer size Membership(s) Customer Experience Management (CXM) Services, including Contact Center Outsourcing Sourcing and Vendor Management

The Customer Experience Management (CXM) market in the EMEA region has been resilient in the face of a difficult macroeconomic environment, driven by the diverse economic landscape and accelerated digital transformation. Specific growth drivers include increased AI and automation adoption, rising demand for enhanced customer service, substantial investments in digital infrastructure, and a notable surge in demand from the energy and utilities sector amid a global energy crisis. Enterprises across EMEA are aggressively advancing their digital transformation strategies, prompting providers to focus on delivering highly customized digital Customer Experience (CX) solutions strongly emphasizing data privacy and security. AI-driven personalization and localized service delivery’s growing demand reflects the region’s rich cultural and linguistic diversity. To support these evolving needs, providers are establishing centers of excellence dedicated to deploying advanced solutions such as knowledge-as-a-service, conversational AI chatbots, and agent-assist tools, which are driving innovation in digital CX, including gen AI technologies’ integration. Furthermore, many providers are strategically partnering with hyperscalers and AI providers to enhance their AI capabilities and expand their service offerings. In this report, we analyze 37 CXM service providers’ capabilities across industries in EMEA. Each profile examines the provider’s service focus, key IP and solutions, domain investments, and case studies. Scope Industry: All Geography: EMEA This assessment is based on Everest Group’s annual RFI process for the calendar year 2024, interactions with leading CXM service providers, client reference checks, and an ongoing analysis of the CXM services market. Contents In this report, we: Examine the CXM market in EMEA Assess providers’ key strengths and limitations Provide sourcing considerations for enterprises Membership(s) Customer Experience Management (CXM) Services, including Contact Center Outsourcing CX Excellence Sourcing and Vendor Management

The global services industry is rapidly evolving, and amid this dynamic landscape, Egypt is emerging as a strategic service delivery location. Its compelling talent-cost proposition and favorable operating environment are key drivers of this momentum. Everest Group, in collaboration with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), has assessed the factors shaping Egypt’s services landscape. In this report, we highlight the key pillars of Egypt’s value proposition: economic attractiveness, supportive government initiatives, a young and multilingual talent pool, professional excellence, and a tactical geostrategic advantage. Scope Geography: Egypt Services: IT, BP, and ER&D Content In this report, we examine Egypt’s: Global services value proposition Significant cost savings potential Supportive government initiatives Young and multilingual talent pool Professional excellence Tactical geostrategic advantage Membership(s) Locations Insider™ Sourcing and Vendor Management

The global services market grew by approximately 12% in 2022, reaching a value of about US$275 billion. However, momentum slowed in 2023, with market revenue expanding only by 3-5% to nearly US$285 billion by year-end. Moreover, the global services market saw a marginal increase in headcount in 2023, with roughly 300,000 FTEs added to the workforce across various regions. In this Global Locations State of the Market Report 2024, we analyze the global services locations landscape, evaluate developments, and assess key trends to design an optimal locations portfolio strategy. The Key Trends report within this analysis examines global locations and center landscape, adoption trends from 2023, and leaders’ priorities for building a successful location mix in 2024. The report also examines headcount and revenue growth trends within the global services market at geographic/regional levels. It includes a breakdown of new center setups by geography and function, including IT application development and maintenance, IT infrastructure, engineering, R&D, contact center operations, and non-voice business services. Scope Industry: global services Geography: global Contents In this report, we examine: Key trends shaping the global locations landscape Geography-specific trends across offshore/nearshore locations Onshore parameters of global services delivery Key trends for enterprise locations/workforce strategy Membership(s) Locations Insider™ Sourcing and Vendor Management

In an era characterized by continual change, evolving market dynamics, and an unwavering demand for progress, enterprises must embrace innovation while effectively managing change. In this webinar, our analysts presented invaluable insights gathered from Everest Group’s 2024 Key Issues survey, specifically focusing on how issues will impact EMEA. The webinar addressed the challenges that companies in the EMEA region will face in 2024 and how they can think about addressing them. Participants got a view into the perspectives of industry leaders in the IT-BP sector, heard the major concerns, expectations, and emerging trends for 2024, and learnt actionable recommendations. What questions did the webinar answer for the participants? What are the key issues that businesses are anticipating in 2024 How will issues specifically impact EMEA? What are some of the strategies businesses can leverage?

Offshoring/nearshoring has seen an uptick across functions as enterprises have embarked on a road to recovery post the pandemic. In 2023 as well, rising cost pressures and talent-related challenges in onshore geography will continue to move the pendulum in favor of offshore/nearshore geographies. Asia Pacific continues to dominate the global services landscape as major tier-1 Indian cities maintain their Leader positions across functions. The Philippines continues to remain a Leader for contact center and transactional business process services work. In EMEA, Poland and Ireland continue to be the locations of choice for IT-BP delivery. Locations in LATAM continue to witness growth in terms of new capabilities to serve the North American (especially the US) market. Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia continue to maintain their position as Major Contenders (in the global landscape) for most functions. The Global Locations State of the Market Report 2023 describes the global services locations landscape and examines the location-related developments and trends to design a best-fit locations portfolio strategy. Scope Industry: global services Geography: global Contents The report includes the following topics: The report is divided into three parts: Key trends shaping the global services landscape Risk watch Locations PEAK Matrix®: it features an objective, data-driven, and comparative assessment of locations specific to a market segment (function and process); the key market segments and locations in scope include: Information Technology – Application Development and Maintenance (IT-ADM) – Global (excluding North America) Information Technology – Application Development and Maintenance (IT-ADM) – Asia Pacific (APAC) Information Technology – Application Development and Maintenance (IT-ADM) – Latin America (LATAM) Information Technology – Application Development and Maintenance (IT-ADM) – Nearshore Europe Information Technology – Application Development and Maintenance (IT-ADM) – North America Contact Center (CC) – Global (excluding North America) Contact Center (CC) – APAC Contact Center (CC) – LATAM Contact Center (CC) – Nearshore Europe Contact Center (CC) – North America Business Process Services (BPS) – Global (excluding North America) Engineering / Research and Development (ER&D) – Global (excluding North America) This report presents insights into market size and growth, global services exports by region and country, locations activity by region and country, and trends affecting global locations (changes in the investment environment, key developments globally, and changes in the exposure to various risks) Membership(s) Locations Insider™ Sourcing and Vendor Management