ILOILO CITY — Amid closures and work stoppages of companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a global technical care firm is set to open early next year in this city and is expected to create 1,200 jobs.
The Nashville-based Asurion firm would start operating its tech support customer service center in January, Gareth Boulton, director of Care Operations in the Philippines, said in a press conference.
Boulton said the company has opened to applications for hiring and would conduct interviews in the next few months.
The Iloilo facility will be located at its new 76,000-square-feet office space at Two Fintech Place in the 74-hectare Iloilo Business Park of Megaworld Corp. in Mandurriao District.
The site is the fourth Asurion facility in the country and the first outside of Luzon. The company currently employs 19,000 workers, including 4,000 in its IT services facility in Manila and distribution center in Calamba City and a customer service center in Santa Rosa City, both in Laguna province.
“We are excited to expand our Philippines operations to Iloilo City, which will help us attract additional talent as the global demand for tech help continues to grow. We look forward to becoming a part of the Iloilo community,” Boulton said in a statement.
Those who will be hired this year include technical support customer care representatives and those in human resources, operations, training, and support positions.
Boulton said safety and health measures and protocols based on standards set by the World Health Organization, United States Center for Disease Control and Department of Health would be put in place and observed when employees work on-site in January.
He said Iloilo was chosen as the site of its first facility outside of Luzon over other areas they surveyed because they found the city “different” and “very special.”
“We met amazing people (who) connected and built relationships,” Boulton said.
He also cited the “very clean and safe location” of their office at the Iloilo Business Park.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city is thankful for the investment that would provide job opportunities for Ilonggos.