BPO Investments Outside US

There's a lot of apprehensions about the House Bill (HB) No. 3596, the “Call Center and Consumers Protection Bill” in the US, that may affect the Philippine BPO industry. The measure aims to bring back call center jobs to the US, as it continues to experience job creation problems.

I would like to see the Pinoy BPO industry to expand to other outsourcing locators from Europe and Australia to greatly reduce the effect of the law if signed by President Obama. Recently, the Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) has partnered with the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) to attract outsourcing investments from the European zone. This is a good move to try and tap new BPO businesses from the Eurozone.

Australian accounts are also rising in popularity in the Pinoy BPO industry as time difference is not that far from the Philippines, therefore giving a chance for our Pinoy BPO workers to work during the daytime. That's a great motivation for work, being a "normal" person again after battling the night shift for years.

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Aegis Launches New Building in Cebu

Cebu City again welcomed a new infrastructure to its booming BPO industry: the new Aegis Tower- a P2-billion building located in within Cebu’s AsiaTown IT Park. Unlike other call centers that lease, Aegis actually purchased land to build their own site.

This will add 3,000 more jobs to Cebuanos and will definitely also attract other workers from the Visayas region.

Aegis, a subsidiary of India's Essar Group bought PeopleSupport in the Philippines last 2008 for $250 million.

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APAC Customer Services to be acquired and merged with NCO Group

One Equity Partners, the private investment arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. will acquire 100% of APAC, through an all-cash transaction. Since One Equity is also the majority owner of NCO Group, Inc., the merging of the two BPOs will be imminent, as Tom Kichler, Managing Director at One Equity Partners said. "We are excited about investing behind the growth of these two great businesses.

APAC sites are currently located in Cubao, Alabang and in Palo, Leyte. NCO Group has it's Quezon City, Taguig and Marikina sites.

Now this is an interesting merger and a brand-new opportunity for the Pinoy BPO workers to consider establishing their careers with this development.

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Stellar Global will open new site in Eastwood

Stellar Global is soon to open its newest site in Eastwood, Quezon City investing P200 million in this facility. It will be housed at the 22nd to 24th floors of the 34-storey MDC 100 Bldg. and also occupying a part of the ground floor for employee recruitment.

Stellar Global Philippines is a joint venture company owned by an Australian business process outsourcing firm, Stellar Global and Philippine publicly listed company Paxy’s Inc, which was the former owners of Advanced Contact Solutions.

Stellar Global will be housing their airline and energy accounts in the new site which will do voice and non-voice services. An expected 1,000 seats will be filled in this new site. Stellar Global's Cubao facility already has more than 1,500 employees.

Pinoy BPO workers will definitely benefit from this new site and as there will be more daytime BPO jobs available!

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Teleperformance in Cebu

Another major BPO company establishes it presence in the Visayas as Teleperformance Cebu marks the company’s ninth site in the Philippines. The new site will be located in Ayala Business Park and will be equipped with sizable 1,000 workstations.

According from people that were applying for an agent job in this new TP site, the salary offer they got is comparable to TP Metro Manila and the 3,000-peso attendance bonus was also offered.

With this new development, Pinoy BPO workers might consider Cebu City as their new home! I call it as a vacation and workplace destination in one.

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SM and Robinsons invests in more BPO buildings

Pasay and Ortigas have become major BPO hubs in the Philippines and continuous development of these areas for BPO business occupancy is the proof. SM and Robinsons are erecting new buildings:

SM Land Commercial Properties Group's TwoE-comCenter in Pasay City, the second in a series of four buildings geared toward BPOs and IT occupancy, is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2011 and fully operational by the first quarter of 2012.

Two buildings, Cyberscape One ( 23-stories) and Cyberscape Two (36-stories), will expand Robinsons Land Corporation in Ortigas Center. It is expected to be completed by middle of 2013.

We are to benefit for this, Pinoy BPO workers, to have lots of opportunity to find suitable work location and BPOs will fill in these new buildings for their new or expansion sites.

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C3 / CustomerContactChannels in Fort Bonifacio

I saw a full page ad in Manila Bulletin today about C3 or CustomerContactChannels, one of the newest BPOs to set foot here in the Philippines. And according to their website:

"C3 provides a full range of customer contact management services for corporate clients in the healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, energy and utilities, media, travel, hospitality, and government services industries, from both U.S. and international locations. C3’s founders are considered pioneers in the industry having successfully grown global BPO companies over the last several decades. As a result, the Company is uniquely positioned to deliver outstanding results for its clients through proven operational best practices and its veteran leadership team."

Its brand new site is located at the 17th-20th floors of the E- Services building in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. It's always cool to be a part of a brand new team, to be a pioneer. Pinoy BPO workers, don't miss out this opportunity if your on the look out for fresh job options!

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Call Center Dictionary

Absent - A phenomenon that occurs when you were not able to sleep during daytime.

Salary - Force that motives you to go to work.

Late - Happens when its raining and/or payday.

13th month pay - The thing to wait for before resigning.

ID - Something to confiscate when you are using your celphone and sleeping on the floor.

Call - Makes you fall asleep faster than a sleeping pill.

Clinic - Home of best actors & actresses.

You may add more! hehe!

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Convergys' new sites in Cebu and Baguio

Convergys Philippines is expanding its operations through its new sites in Cebu and Baguio. Currently, CVG has more than 20,000 people across 13 facilities nationwide: eight in Metro Manila, three in Cebu City, one in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, and one in Bacolod City.

Existing CVG sites in Cebu City are located in Banawa Hills, Asiatown IT Park i2 and i3 buildings. The 4th and new site will be in TGU Tower, still in Asiatown.

CVG Baguio is set to open over 3,000 business process outsourcing seats in Camp John Hay. This was made possible by Ayala Land acquiring 12 hectares of Camp John Hay property and will develop it to become the city’s techno hub.

It's cool to go back and visit our provinces. Now it can be more than a vacation destiny and offer employment opportunities for us Pinoy BPO workers.

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Call Center Phobia?

Phobia is defined in Wikipedia as an irrational, intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, animals, or people. Is there such a thing called "call center phobia"?

I worked in a call center before that has a 10,000 pesos training bond. A training bond is an amount that you will have to pay to the company if you did not finish training or did not stay with the company fo at least 6 months. A wave mate went on AWOL during training, and was very afraid that he will hunted down by the company to ask him to pay or will not be able to work in another company again because of what he did. He was asking if NBI will reflect this if he will apply for an NBI clearance. He is now working in a giant retail company and still occasionally texts me about what if his current company founds out that he went on AWOL on first BPO job.

I had a text conversation with a friend recently who is used to be my wave mate in a call center. She resigned after transition training and went on AWOL at that time. Our text conversation went about our current jobs as she is now working for a utilities company. She is now proud to be as not a part of a BPO company and declared: "mas ok na 'to kesa magpayaman sa call center" I think she is now acting this way because of the harsh conditions we went through in that previous call center, and I explained that not all call center acounts are the same. She is firm in her conviction that even though her salary is much smaller and sometimes required to work 6 days a week she will not join any BPO company again.

My point of view of the matter is that BPO work may not be for everyone but I could stress enough that it may offer an opportunity that could uplift our lives financially and help our families. And for me, the more important thing here is to improve as an individual by facing our fears head on and survive the challenges of the Pinoy BPO industry.

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Retirement benefits for Pinoy BPO Workers urged

I have been in a few call centers for the past 5 years and I thought what if I stayed in just one company for that time span? I thought, what's the advantages or disadvantages, could have I stayed 5 continuous years?

I don't regret the fact that I joined multiple companies in the last 5 years as it enriched my learning and experience, which is irreplaceable.

Recently, a House Bill was created to mandate all BPOs in the Philippines to provide retirement benefits to emloyees who have served at least 5 years of continuous service and penalize the violators.

House Bill 04221 by Representative Gunigundo of Valenzuela is timely and appropriate. This will basically reward all the hard work of the Pinoy BPO workers and as they continue to do so, it would be beneficial to BPO companies because it will definitely cut attrition, once this becomes a law. Training new hires costs a lot for BPO companies.

One concern though is that some unscrupulous BPO companies may take the cost of the employees retirement pay from their employees' current benefits: freeze annual increases, remove allowances and adjusting night differential rates.

Nevertheless, I believe the Bill will be beneficial with specific safe guards from abuse in place. I strongly support this Bill and mabuhay to all Pinoy BPO workers!

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Teletech now in Mandaluyong

Teletech is one of the largest BPO company in the Philippines today. I was once employed at the Cainta site before and it was fairly new in 2006.

It is interesting to note that Teletech was one of the few BPO companies that explored outside Metro Manila for Pinoy BPO workers. Current Teletech sites include Cainta, Lipa, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Bacoor, Iloilo, San Fernando, Sta. Rosa.

Now I believe that it is shifting back to concentrate in the NCR area for talents. Latest is Teletech in Makati (located in Ecoplaza Building) and now in Cybergate Plaza in Mandaluyong CIty.

Rumors also indicate that Teletech will have its presence felt in the UP-Ayala Technohub in the present year.

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Advanced Contact Solutions is now an Alorica Company

Paxys Inc. has sold all of its interest in Advanced Contact Solutions Inc. to Alorica International Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alorica Inc.

Paxys Inc. is a company incorporated in the Philippines and focuses on investments in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry and related sectors within the Asia Pacific region. Other remaining Paxys interests in the Philippines are ScopeWorks Asia Inc, Stellar Global Solutions Philippines Inc. and WNS Philippines Inc.

Alorica Inc. is Headquartered in Chino, California with nearly 20,000 employees housed in 34 global contact management centers. Alorica sites in the Philippines are in Eastwood, Ortigas, Makati.

ACS is a pioneer in the Pinoy BPO industry and I have lots of friends who have worked with the company has succeeded in their careers in the Pinoy BPO industry.

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Cebu City wants to lead in KPO

The Cebu City Government reportedly will focus its call center training program on its 5,000 college scholars as it wants to improve and increase the pool of highly skilled workers with technical knowledge so Cebu can lead in the booming knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) sector.

KPO or Knowledge Process Outsourcing as the name suggest, is a knowledge-related outsourcing that need highly specialized skills. KPO services include: Investment research services, Business research services, Data Analytics, Market research services, Valuation and Fairness Opinions, Legal research services (also known as Legal Process Outsourcing), Patent research services and Business Operations Support, Analytics & Management.

KPO is yet another great opportunity for us Pinoy BPO workers to explore!

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Bohol wants BPO in 2011

In a PIA Press Release, Governor Edgar Chatto says Bohol is now ready to accommodate at least 10,500 seats for call center and BPO agents.

I welcome every move of the provinces to develop its potential for BPO, as it will ultimately create more jobs. It will decongest urban areas, instead of the educated workforce coming to Metro Manila to seek jobs, it will be possible for them to create their careers in their own province.

Cebu has made this possible as Cebu’s Asiatown IT Park, the country’s second largest IT industry concentration, currently has around 15,066 BPO employees with an estimated total annual compensation of more than PhP1.4 billion.

A cleaner air, affordable living expenses and easy access to the workplace is what I think are the advantages of the BPOs located in the provinces. Pinoy BPO workers, its time to explore the provinces again this 2011!

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The Philippines is the new India?

For many years now India-based BPO companies have found the Philippines as a favored destination for their expansion. In the past years, IT giants like Infosys has set-up base in Taguig City with more than 1,000 seats and Wipro with 2 sites, Quezon City and Cebu City with combined work force of approximately 1,300.

Now joining the boom is Tech Mahindra, the 5th largest software exporter in India that has a wide variety of services ranging from IT Strategy and Consulting to Systems Integration, Application Development & Maintenance, BPO, Infrastructure Management, Civil Services, Network Transformation Solutions & Services, Value Added Services and Product Engineering. Their first office is at 36th Floor Discovery Suites ADB Avenue Ortigas Center Pasig City.

Also setting foot in the Pinoy BPO scene is Tata Consultancy Services, the information technology services, business solutions, and outsourcing arm of the $72-billion Tata Group of India, now has found home in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Pinoy BPO workers can now show what we got by working side by side with the best BPOs in India. May this 2011 year be all the best for us Pinoy BPO workers!

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The Philippines is now No. 1 for BPO

According to IBM’s latest Global Locations Trend Annual Report, released recently in New York, the Philippines beats India in business support functions like shares services and business process outsourcing.

Following India in IBM’s ranking of BPO leaders were the United States, Poland, China, Britain, Columbia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Hungary, Australia, Egypt, Chile, France, Canada, France, Singapore and the Netherlands.

Currently, there are 600,000 Filipinos employed in the country’s BPO industry, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines.

It is a great opportunity for us, Pinoy BPO workers, as we will have more choices of employers that will give the best benefits or stay will our companies and enjoy career growth. This new development will give us more of the global stage, where our skills will be recognized and rewarded.

It will be a great 2011 for the Pinoy BPO workers!

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Magna Carta for Call Center Workers

The unprecedented growth of the call center or the BPO industry has employed Pinoy BPO workers nationwide and provided an opportunity for Filipinos to showcase their skills in a global setting setting without leaving home.

The Pinoy BPO workers made it a billion-dollar industry for the Philippine economy and deserves to have protection from abuses in the workplace.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed Senate Bill No. 2604 or Magna Carta for Call Center Workers Act to to guarantee a good working environment for every Pinoy BPO worker.

According to the Senator's website, the bill seeks to guarantee call center employees the following rights: the right to organize and join labor organizations; the right to a safe and healthy working environment; the right to at least a one hour continuous meal break in the middle of every eight hour shift; the right to privacy; safety for night shift employees; and the right to be informed of the terms and conditions of their contract.

I want to stress that there are more abuses are being committed by BPO employers. I'm particularly against training bonds, HMO coverage after six months, forced overtime and many more other issues.

I will continue to discuss these topics in the following months and I support the Senator in her bill to forward the rights of the Pinoy BPO workers.

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'Dress Down' Must Be the Policy During Bad Weather

Some BPOs or Call Centers in the Philippines still require its employees to 'dress up' from Mondays to Thursdays. It is enforced to make their employees 'look professional' when within company premises.

I have no problems about this regulation but I think it's impractical and illogical to 'dress up' if there is a weather disturbance within the day. An estimated 90% or more of Pinoy BPO workers are still dependent on public transport to go to and fro the office. It is much of an inconvenience for us when we thread flooded streets, chase buses and jeepneys just to get to work on time during a typhoon.

I think it's a must for BPO companies with dress code policies to automatically declare a 'dress down' day when their is a public storm signal hoisted by PAGASA. Of course if your company is located in the Visayas and public storm signal is in Metro Manila, this will not be applicable.

I praise a BPO company somewhere in Buendia Avenue that dispatched transport vans hourly to key points in north and south Metro Manila to make sure its employees get to work safely during the time Super Typhoon Juan brought heavy rains in the metro. And of course employees get to 'dress down' as they where informed 6 hours earlier before their shifts.

That same day I texted my superior if we can go 'dress down' because Metro Manila was placed under Typhoon signal # 1 by PAGASA. I received the most ridiculous text response to date: 'No, because we have client visit today and we need to dress up'.

I later received another message just less than 2 hours before my shift that says 'Got a message from management allowing us to dress down'

Too bad some of my co-workers already left their homes at that time I sent the message across. My friend responded, 'Damn! I'm now in an FX, why didn't you texted me earlier?'

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Personal Outsourcing?

Big US companies utilized technology and outsourcing to make it possible for us, Pinoy BPO workers, to provide customer care, technical support and sell products for a living. But have you heard of personal outsourcing?

This could be the next trend in outsourcing. An ordinary individual can use present technology to 'outsource' work, to have time to do other things. In this scenario, let's say an American accountant may find someone offshore to do the Excel sheets for him to make his work easier and faster and just pay a few dollars for it.

Odesk is the leading website for online jobs and as I heard, it is also a marketplace for personal outsourcing. Similar websites followed suit and is also now providing stable part-time jobs for us Pinoy BPO workers.

This could be an opportunity for us Pinoy BPO workers to earn extra. I could only imagine that the time will come that a fifth grader in the US may outsource his homework for a dollar.

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