Davao call center hiring 800 more workers this year

DAVAO CITY -- Call center Concentrix Philippines, a unit of the US-based Synnex Corp., is expanding, citing the city’s pool of skilled manpower. The company, which has 600 seats at the Damosa Information Technology Complex, is looking at increasing its work force to 1,400 this year, said Gerardo S. Dumael, site director, before the visit of President Arroyo Wednesday night as part of her “cyber corridor tour." Sutherland Global Services -- the largest contact center firm here -- had been reported as targeting 3,000 call center agents this year to double its 1,500-strong work force. Concentrix Philippines’ Mr. Dumael claimed Davao City could become number one in the country in terms of absorption of applicants, with its hiring rate at 7%, compared with 4% for other areas. A survey by ICT-Davao, a group of companies offering outsourcing and IT services, claimed contact center companies in the city hired 25 out of every 100 people interviewed for a call center job. For transcriptionists, the number is much higher, with half the people interviewed getting a call back. Davao City is ranked fourth by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology among “next wave zones" for outsourcing because of the availability of infrastructure and manpower as well as low rent and power costs. Aside from Concentrix Philippines and Sutherland Global Services, the other two call centers in Davao City are CyberCity Teleservices and Western Wats. -- Joel B. Escovilla, BusinessWorld