BPO firm opens 2nd site in Philippines

New York-based business process outsourcing (BPO) firm EXL is growing its local workforce before the end of 2012 as it takes advantage of the large supply of talent the Philippines has to offer.

The company is opening its second site in the country at the SM Mall of Asia’s Two E-Com Center in Pasay City Wednesday, in a ceremony that is expected to be attended by President Aquino.

The new facility will initially have 500 seats, which will bring the company’s total capacity to 2,000 seats. The company also has the option to double the size of its new facility if need arises.

The opening of the facility comes just days after US President Obama’s allies on Capitol Hill filed a bill to discourage the outsourcing of work to countries like India and the Philippines.

EXL transformation services head Rembert de Villa said that while the measure should be a cause for concern for the Philippines, the country’s BPO industry was also no stranger to such calls.

“Mr. Obama is up for reelection. But in our experience, this is very typical in a political environment,” De Villa said.

Incidentally, he said EXL’s most recent expansion would help support one of the Obama administration’s key projects: universal healthcare.

The new site would serve as an “international care center” from where the company will offer “healthcare advocacy” work for its newest client: a US-based health insurance firm that De Villa declined to identify.

He said the new healthcare laws in US were forcing insurance companies to keep their costs down to be able to take in more customers without increasing premiums.

In the meantime, he said the company was also considering putting up another facility either in Cebu or Davao.

“We are also looking at other cities in the Philippines, but there’s a large supply of talent in Cebu and Davao,” he said.