Thursday, December 07, 2006 Call centers urged: Don't make city a recruitment ground By Joy Romares-Sevilla
AN OFFICIAL of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) asked Manila- and Cebu-based call centers not to make Davao City as only their recruitment ground.
Instead, Andre Fornier asked the companies to establish call centers in Davao City, saying the industry has not yet fully developed in the city.
"We have two big call centers in Davao and around three to four small ones compared to Cebu with about 30 to 40 existing call centers," Fornier said during the Club 888 press forum at the Marco Polo Hotel Wednesday.
"Cebu is bragging that they have enough call center agents, but most of their agents and also Manila-based call center agents came from Davao. We will not support call centers, which are only making Davao City as a recruitment ground. Of course we cannot stop them from doing so, we have no law for that, but we will not encourage our people to be a call center agent in Manila or in Cebu," he said.
Fornier revealed that the city has the capability to operate call centers.
He urged call centers from Manila and Cebu to come to the city and open their call centers here.
He claimed that Davao City's training for call center agents are better than that of other places. He added that the passing rate for Davao City call agents is higher than that of Cebu, which is only 12 percent.
Davao City's passing rate is 30 to 40 percent, Fornier said.
"Call centers in Manila have been promising for so long to open call centers here, but after they get their agents from here, they go back to Manila and forget their promise," Fornier said.
He said Davao City is a very safe place to do business, but these call centers in Manila are overbuilding call centers in Cebu.
"In fact, we have no problem with physical facilities, we are quite similar with Cebu. I understand that Manila-based call centers have this main reason why they don't set up shop here, it is because if they do so, all agents working in Manila will come home," Fornier said revealing that 40 percent of call center agents in Manila are from Davao City.
