AS THE novel coronavirus pandemic has kept people around the globe locked in their homes, job opportunities have opened to cities catering to their needs, particularly those who turned to online channels to shop and deliver household necessities.

Most recently, Qualfon Cebu has benefited from this new way of shopping activity by supporting the customer care division of a grocery delivery service that is experiencing a growing number of online shoppers in need of essential supplies.

The company said its contact center agents now support these consumers through a variety of channels, including online chat to ensure they receive the highest level of customer satisfaction possible. This opportunity, it noted, could grow to provide an additional 2,000 jobs in Cebu, including advancement opportunities for supervisors, quality assurance specialists and trainers.

“We continue to see steady growth in our Cebu operations because of our dedicated employees, long-term clients and capacity to support new business opportunities,” said Mike Marrow, chief executive officer of Qualfon. “We recognize the wealth of talents and a business-friendly government that provide a stable foundation for us to create more jobs and make each person’s life better.”

Qualfon is a full-service marketing solutions and contact center service provider. It has locations in Cebu, Manila and Dumaguete.

Qualfon provides outsourcing services including call centers, customer service, customer acquisition and retention, customer on-boarding, as well as back-office processing.

Qualfon’s Cebu site in the Philippines has been in operation for 14 years, employing 3,026 workers pre-Covid-19. Recent growth, including new business opportunities, has led to an increase of 464 employees to date and growing.

The company said this growth comes from the increases in volumes from existing, long-term clients, combined with new business growth brought about by the need to support essential business during the recent novel coronavirus pandemic.

As majority of businesses in Cebu have temporarily stopped operations following the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine, Qualfon Cebu remained operational, migrating 78 percent of its entire workforce to a work-from-home arrangement.

The firm said it provided computers, LTE routers and electricity allowance to its employees. Those unable to work from home were given hotel accommodations with free meals and transportation to the site. All recruitment and training efforts of the company were conducted virtually. (KOC)