ILOILO CITY, Philippines--Transcom, touted to be Europe's largest business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, will open a call center in Iloilo in 2009, and will hire from 1,000 to 2,000 employees.
The investment is expected to cement the city's place among the top new wave international BPO sites.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said Transcom has set the hiring of around 1,060 employees in October. It is planning to double its work force after it starts its operations, according to Treñas.
Transcom has 75 sites in 29 countries worldwide and has expertise in various industries including telecommunications, the financial industry, travel and leisure, utilities and retail/consumer goods. It has around 20,000 employees serving over 120 major clients in more than 30 languages.
Treñas said the investment would boost employment opportunities for residents of Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas.
The investment has also affirmed the city as among the top new BPO investment sites in the world.
The city already hosts nine BPOs with more than 4,000 workers. These include Teletech, ePLDT Ventus, Callbox Customer Contact Center, Global Mega Communications Inc., Techno Call Corp., Interactive Voice Call Center, Medlink Trans Services, Eversun Software Philippines Corp., and Savant Technologies.
The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) recently cited Iloilo City as the third in the top 10 "next wave cities" for business process outsourcing and information technology because of the low cost of doing business and the availability of talents.
Earlier this year, BusinessWeek magazine said Iloilo and Davao were among the 31 cities that were being eyed by BPO investors due to economic and political pressures to outsource work to lower-cost cities.
The magazine cited a study of the KPMG, a global network of professional services firms, which said that the two Philippine cities were rapidly emerging to compete with traditional BPO destinations, such as Bangalore, Chennai and Shanghai.
The KPMG report said Iloilo had a large talent pool because of the number of educational institutions and strong English skills of the population.
The regional center of Western Visayas, Iloilo has six universities, more than 30 colleges, and technical schools producing more than 17,000 students graduates annually.
The KPMG report said the talent pool was suitable for voice-based operation of call centers due to the populace's diction and cultural similarities with the United States.
Treñas credited the heightened investor confidence in the city to the strong partnership between the private sector and the local government and the investment promotions undertaken by various organizations.
The city has been elevated to the prestigious Hall of Fame of the Palladium Balanced Scorecard for executing strategy. The Palladium Group, is an international organization, which supports efforts of organizations and government units to achieve strategy-focused goals.
The citation to be formally awarded in a summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 5, will be the first for any organization or government unit in the Philippines, according to Treñas.
