Monday, September 21, 2009

Dispersing to the Periphery

One thousand new jobs in a city of 12 million may not be too exciting. One thousand jobs in a city of half a million is something to write home about. In the Philippines' Visayas region, Iloilo is fast becoming a favored destination. It's no surprise that a city with six universities and thousands of fresh graduates a year would become a viable location for outsourcing companies. Other wannabee cities looking to boost development need remember that besides the available labor pool, another ingredient is necessary -- reliable telecommunication links to the rest of the world -- before they prepare the powerpoint presentations to lure companies to their neck of the woods.
Transcom, touted to be Europe's largest business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, will open a call center in Iloilo in 2009, and will hire from 1,000 to 2,000 employees.

The investment is expected to cement the city's place among the top new wave international BPO sites.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said Transcom has set the hiring of around 1,060 employees in October. It is planning to double its work force after it starts its operations, according to Treñas.

Transcom has 75 sites in 29 countries worldwide and has expertise in various industries including telecommunications, the financial industry, travel and leisure, utilities and retail/consumer goods. It has around 20,000 employees serving over 120 major clients in more than 30 languages.

The investment has also affirmed the city as among the top new BPO investment sites in the world.

The city already hosts nine BPOs with more than 4,000 workers. These include Teletech, ePLDT Ventus, Callbox Customer Contact Center, Global Mega Communications Inc., Techno Call Corp., Interactive Voice Call Center, Medlink Trans Services, Eversun Software Philippines Corp., and Savant Technologies.