Wednesday, September 10, 2008 New BPO firm in Cebu
CEBU City’s business process outsourcing industry continues to grow as another contact center is set to start operations by November.
ICT Philippines, a member of the American firm ICT Group, met with representatives of the Cebu City Government and the academe last Monday to present an overview of the company and what it can offer the city.
John Langford, executive vice president for Philippine operations, said the company will start with 500 seats with an option to expand to 750, depending on the performance of its Cebu team.
“We will begin training the agents by the end of October,” he said.
With this, ICT will hold a job convention on Sept. 20 and invite 20 graduating students from each school to participate in the activity.
Job convention
The job convention, which will be held at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, will allow ICT to present what the company offers its employees. A mock interview will also be conducted during the activity.
Langford said the meeting with local school representatives is an initial step for the company to establish its partnership with the Cebu academe.
Representatives from the University of San Carlos, Southwestern University, University of the Philippines Cebu College, Velez College, Asian College of Technology, University of Cebu, University of San Jose-Recoletos and the University of Southern Philippines Foundation joined the meeting hosted by ICT last Monday.
In Manila, the company implements a training program that enhances the English communication skills of students in partner schools. Langford said the same module will be made available to Cebu schools.
Proficiency in English communication is now the number one challenge facing the BPO industry, Langford said.
Five centers
The Nasdaq-listed company began operations in 1987 at its headquarters in Newtown, Pennsylvannia. It opened its first center in Makati, Philippines last April 2003 with 200 seats.
After five years of operation, ICT now has five centers in Luzon. Its operations at the Cebu IT Tower located within the Cebu Business Park will be its first site in the Visayas.
Out of a total workforce of 22,000 worldwide, ICT employs 7,500 in the Philippines.
Langford admitted that it took a while for the company to open a center in Cebu because he thought that the city is already a saturated market.
But two of the company’s clients insisted that ICT set up operations in Cebu.
Langford said the proximity of business and recreational features—like beaches—make Cebu an attractive destination.
As part of its expansion efforts in the country, ICT is now looking at “second tier cities” where it can set up additional operations. Second tier cities include Bacolod (Negros Occidental), Iloilo and Dumaguete (Oriental Negros) in the Visayas. (DME)
