He said that this year, the company is targeting a total of 250 workers for its first phase of operation, while another 400 workers for the company's second phase of operation next year.
Derek said the recruitment of call center agents in Davao City has been very outstanding and satisfactory.
"Currently, we have a hundred of agents, but we have around 40 to 45 agents every batch, who are already undergoing trainings every week. Our agents here are at par with Western Wats Cebu agents," Rice said.
Rice added that majority of its agents came from universities in Davao City and neighboring provinces.
Rice said the company poured in at least P60-million investment for the construction of the facility.
With the entry of Western Wats Davao, Ruel Gustilo, director for malls and entertainment of the NCCC Mall, said the management have to adjust the store hours and even the operation of its food tenants in order to cater call center agents during odd hours.
On the other hand, Bong Te, corporate planning director of the NCCC Mall, revealed that the company has an exclusive contract with the Western Wats. This would mean that they would not anymore accommodate other call center companies to occupy a space at the NCCC Mall.
Western Wats is occupying a total of 4,871 square meters at the mall's 4th level.
"Western Wats is our biggest tenant, and we want to protect its interest. But we can accommodate other call centers in other branches of the NCCC," Te said.
Western Wats was established in Orem, Utah in 1987 and started operations with only a few dialing stations. From its humble beginnings, it expanded its operations and now has 17 contact centers all over North America and the Philippines (its Davao showroom being the latest addition to its growing family) due to the large demand for accurate data collection in the market today.
"We empower businessmen, political leaders, and decision makers to make smarter, better and informed decisions. We have close to 300 clients (including Fortune 500 companies)," Rice said.
These clients, Rice said, range from government agencies, auto manufacturing firms, advertising outfits, media organizations, print publications, and universities, to mid-sized grocers, small private businesses, and non-profit groups.
