Vol. XXII, No. 12 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY — Call centers operating in this city are hesitant to expand, as higher salaries in Manila and Cebu lure their talent, said Teolulo T. Pasawa, head of the National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center here.
Mr. Pasawa, also the point person for information and communications technology sector of the Department of Trade and Industry in the Davao Region, said several companies have discussed with him their expansion programs, but complained that they could hardly fill the vacancies because most of their recruits have decided to accept offers to work in call centers in Manila or Cebu where pay is higher. Starting salary for call center work here ranges from P8,000-P11,000 a month, compared to P15,000 in Manila.
Also, those who are recruited to work in Manila or Cebu are offered relocation and other allowances just to lure them to accept the offer.
At present, he said, there are about 1,500 seats in the call center industry in the city, although not all of the 10 companies here operate round the clock. The number of seats could easily double next year as Ayala and Robinson’s business centers open their IT facilities in the next 12 months.
Call centers here are trying to form a pool of human resources from which they can draw workers. "This is necessary as this will also address the issue of poaching," Mr. Pasawa said, adding that although there is no poaching among local centers, Manila call centers continue to lure local agents.
A call center manager, who declined to be named, said that one big problem is local call centers do not want to raise salaries. "If only we can make our salaries more competitive with those offered by Manila-based call centers, I believe we can recruit more," he said.
Another problem is that interest in working in call centers has waned. Joji Ilagan-Bian, president of call center training school JIB e-Academy, said that she has found it difficult to lure students to her school despite the availability of government scholarship coupons. "I have 1,000 coupons to dispose, but I don’t have much takers," she said in an interview. It was different in the past two years, she said, which was marked by much interest among young graduates in call center work. — CQF
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