Dalaguete opens BPO center to create 200 call center jobs

HELLO, WORLD. The Dalaguete Municipal Government opens a three-story business process outsourcing (BPO) center on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The inauguration of the BPO center (inset) was graced by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Cesante (in light blue shirt), and Cebu Second District Rep. Edsel Galeos (in maroon shirt). Garcia had nothing but optimism for the BPO center, saying the youth will have the chance to join an industry that offers better pay. (Ralph Martinez; [inset] Benjie Talisic)
HELLO, WORLD. The Dalaguete Municipal Government opens a three-story business process outsourcing (BPO) center on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The inauguration of the BPO center (inset) was graced by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Cesante (in light blue shirt), and Cebu Second District Rep. Edsel Galeos (in maroon shirt). Garcia had nothing but optimism for the BPO center, saying the youth will have the chance to join an industry that offers better pay. (Ralph Martinez; [inset] Benjie Talisic)

AROUND 200 call center positions will be generated after the Municipality of Dalaguete in southern Cebu launched a new three-story business process outsourcing (BPO) center on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

The center is part of the Dalaguete Information Technology Park (D’IT Park) project, a local government unit (LGU) initiative that aims to develop a BPO industry in the area and create work opportunities for residents in Dalaguete.

The initiative was created as a response to the number of displaced workers from the BPO industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic who were from Dalaguete. Around 300 displaced workers responded to the LGU’s online consultation and were positive of the project concept.

Dalaguete, with a population of just around 75,000, according to the 2020 Census of Population and Housing, is primarily engaged in agriculture. With its 8,000 vegetable farmers, it is more popularly known as the Vegetable Basket of Cebu.

However, Dalaguete was chosen by the BPO investors because it had the infrastructure to sustain the project in terms of bandwith connectivity with different internet service providers and the fact that the LGU invested a significant P10 million to ensure that the project succeeds.

The first client of the LGU is a public-private partnership to be called Dalaguete IT Solutions that Ryan Sison and Abner Morales will form with the Municipality of Dalaguete.

“We can now say that it’s an A-grade facility and it’s really primed to take on not just the simple voice and non-voice but technically the more complicated campaigns as well that are running in the centers in the city. It’s just a matter of getting in clients,” said Morales when asked about the infrastructure in Dalaguete.

Investors have said this project will provide better buying power for workers, with the effects to trickle down to the local community. It is also expected to be a benchmark for neighboring municipalities.

Part of the project’s plan is to construct two additional buildings that could accommodate more BPO clients in the future.

Currently, the center has 40 seats on the second floor of the building. It is now expanding to the third floor, which will be for non-voice operations. Call center agents will be able to earn P435 per day during the training period and will receive an hourly rate based on the client.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who attended the inauguration of the center, made her positive sentiments on the LGU and the project known.

“This is such a huge opportunity for our youth to be able to join this industry which promises a better paying job. That is exactly what started the economy of Cebu City and urban areas,” said Garcia.

Countryside

Jack Madrid, president of the IT Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap), said more business process management (BPM) firms have brought their businesses to the countryside as they capitalize on cost, talent and the improving digital infrastructure in the countryside.

Madrid said 31 percent of the total industry workforce is now in the countryside, up from 29 percent recorded in 2022 or 420,000 full-time employees out of the 1.5 million total headcount. Prior to the pandemic, only 25 percent of employees were outside Metro Manila.

The Ibpap official said this growing figure is significant as it delivers economic benefits across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which means the growth of the industry is no longer just concentrated in Manila and Cebu.

“There are many investors now who are eager to find unique talents across cities and provinces,” said Madrid during the 2023 Transformation Summit hosted by the Cebu IT-BPM Organization last Friday.

Drivers to countryside growth are increased attention from the private and public sectors through Ibpap’s Digital Cities project, improved digital infrastructure, talent availability, and work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements.

“Investors see a talent gap in Metro Manila, which is why they are moving to the countryside to look for high-skilled talents in the provinces. Aside from that, the urge to work from home and be with their families as well as the lesser commute time from work to home resulted in less attrition of employees in the provinces, unlike in Metro Manila,” Madrid said.

The move to the countryside is also beneficial to the property sector.

Madrid said they have seen the rise of the hub and spoke model where work spaces no longer host 1,000 to 2,000 employees but gave birth to microsites with 50 to 100 seats, whose locations are convenient to employees.

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