Vol. XXII, No. 25 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Friday, August 29, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
AUSTRALIAN-BASED business process outsourcing (BPO) operator Admerex is eyeing Davao City as the possible location of its second
contact center in the Philippines, an umbrella group for outsourcing services said yesterday.
— BW file photo
Eriberto P. Barriga, Jr., vice-president for external affairs of ICT Davao, Inc., said in a statement the Admerex group had inspected the area as it plans to expand within the year.
Ces A. Sembrano of Admerex Philippines confirmed that the company was considering Davao for its second site. It has one contact center in Makati City with 500 agents. The expansion will require 500 more agents.
There are 18 call centers in Davao City operated by companies like Cyber City, Call Box, Sutherland and Western Wats.
"Their interest [in Davao] now is higher [than] two years ago," Mr. Barriga said. He said the increasing willingness of property owners to adjust to requirements of the information and communications technology sector has attracted investor interest.
At present, 12 sites are available for locators, and most property owners are willing to retrofit buildings to accommodate investors’ needs.
The Business Processing Association of the Philippines earlier said the country must develop three-quarters of talent living outside the National Capital Region. The BPO sector, IT and engineering sectors can grow by as much as 40% annually through 2010 if this talent is tapped, the group said.
Davao’s BPO work force is estimated to be twice that of Cebu, seven times that of Clark, Pampanga, and six times that of Baguio, according to a study by research firm XMG, Inc.
ICT Davao plans to prepare for the influx of investors by improving the city’s labor pool. The group is hosting a business process outsourcing job fair on Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, recruitment of qualified agents for contact centers and medical transcription work has remained a major problem in Davao City notwithstanding training provided by the government.
Lizabel G. Holganza, president of the Transcription Alliance of Davao, Inc., said her school had signed a deal with a Cebu City-based company for 200 workers until November.
"The company has already offered signing bonuses to qualified recruits. But I worry that I cannot fill the slots," she said in an interview.
Cyber City Teleservices Phils., Inc., a call center company based here, is also experiencing the same problem. The company is recruiting talent in nearby provinces three months ahead because of the dearth of qualified applicants here.
Nanette O. del Monte, human resources head of Cyber City, noted that while it wanted to add 1,000 agents for its Davao operations, there are not too many qualified personnel.
The company had to cut its expansion to just 200 agents as a result. "To address the problem, we have to be proactive. So we decided to recruit outside the city and in other key areas of Mindanao. You can hardly find workers if you limit your recruitment to the city," Ms. del Monte said.
Ms. Holganza traced the problem to misplaced priorities on the part of trained workers. She said most workers who had been trained by the government were holders of degrees not related to the call center industry.
Some are nurses who are just waiting to be deployed abroad, many of them thinking that it would be better to work while waiting for deployment.
Ms. del Monte also admitted that a few of those who had applied with local call centers had been lured to work in Manila or Cebu where salaries are higher.
But they have failed to realize that the cost of living here is lower and the working environment is significantly better, she pointed out.
ICT Davao’s Mr. Barriga said problems confronting the industry would be discussed at the job fair over the weekend.
"We must address the gaps, especially now that the industry has considered Davao as among their top destinations," he said.
In a related development, a council for the ICT industry has been created in Cagayan, the Trade department said in a statement yesterday.
The Cagayan Development Foundation for Information Technology will bring together stakeholders from the academe, government agencies and nongovernment organizations to create a business environment in Cagayan conducive to ICT investors, it said. — Jessica Anne D. Hermosa and Carmelito Q. Francisco
__________________________________________________________
