Friday, July 31, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Nancy R. Cudis
A US-based call center service provider will open a multi-million call center facility in Mandaue City to accommodate the demands of its growing client base and help provide more job opportunities in the country.
Occupying a couple of floors in A. D. Gothong IT Building in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, Focus Direct Inc. will be hiring at least 600 agents within the next few months.
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The new call center will start operations in September, offering inbound customer service and other forms of support like sales assistance to multiple industries, including Internet-based companies.
“We want to hire as much as we can. We are trying to fill in the need for more jobs here. There are tons of qualified people here,” said Focus Direct Inc. site director Ryan Beattie in a press conference yesterday at Alpa City Suites.
The company is encouraging students to apply either as full-time or part-time agents, especially when the company will be offering tuition reimbursements.
Starting Aug. 3, Focus Direct Inc. will open its doors to walk-in applicants.
“The compensation we offer to our workers is very competitive. The organizational structure we have is also very small such that agents can directly e-mail our top managers in Utah, USA for their concerns,” said Beattie.
Focus Direct Inc. is affiliated with Utah-based Focus Services Inc.-privately owned call center service provider that specializes in multi-product telesales and customer relationship management.
Focus Services Inc., which was founded in 1995, has around 2,000 employees working in nine Focus facilities in the US and internationally.
In the Philippines, it has been maintaining a call center office in Bacolod since 2006.
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Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes welcomed Focus Direct Inc. in the city, saying that the new investment provides job opportunities and boosts the city’s economy.
With around four major call centers in Mandaue, he said the City Government is implementing incentive packages for them to “maximize their profit and expand their
business.”
Beattie said that Focus Direct Inc. decided to locate in Mandaue and far from other Information Technology sites, like the Asiatown IT Park in Cebu City.
“The way big call center players operate there is different from (one of) our focus, which is to work with our agents and get to know them. This is why we have tuition reimbursements and a savings program for them, among others,” he said.
The company plans to expand in Cebu and is looking at other areas, such Bohol, Negros and Cagayan de Oro.
Among its considerations include the presence of many schools, a critical mass of potential workers and a convenient city layout that is “easy to get around.”
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on August 1, 2009.
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