MANILA, Philippines -- Nasdaq-listed TeleTech on Friday announced plans to open up 10 new call centers in the Philippines in the next two years and to hire 10,000 more call center agents.

The company has a 15,000-strong workforce spread in 10 centers in Luzon and the Visayas, said
Maulik Parekh, TeleTech vice president and general manager for Asia.

“As far as we know, we are currently the biggest call center operations in the country,” Parekh said in a news briefing. “That is, for those who are doing ‘true’ call center work. Ninety-five percent of our deliveries are in voice-based services.”

TeleTech surpassed its target number of workers as of November and would continue to hire and would take in at least 200 more people before yearend, Parekh said.

He said it would keep its strategy of locating in second-tier cities and had recently signed lease agreements with two malls in such locations.

“We are set to open a facility in SM City Pampanga in San Fernando City and another in Robinsons Santa Rosa in Laguna, both in the first half of 2008,” he said.

The Pampanga center, which will be in the new wing of the mall, will have 1,700 seats and the one in Laguna would have 1,000 seats, he added.

Parekh, an Indian-born expatriate, said TeleTech preferred areas far from existing call center hubs.

“We also look for locations where there is a high concentration of people,” he said. “Six of our 10 existing centers are in shopping malls.”

Six of the company’s call centers are in the Novaliches area of Quezon City, Cainta town outside Manila, Lipa City in Batangas province, Bacoor town outside Manila, and the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo in the central Philippines.

Four are in Pasay City near the SM Mall of Asia, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City -- both in Metro Manila, and in the cities of Dumaguete and Cebu in the central Philippines. With INQUIRER.net