Some BPO workers worried over Duterte's 'separation' comment

MANILA - Some business process outsourcing (BPO) employees are worried of losing their jobs following President Rodrigo Duterte's announcement of his "separation" from the United States.

"Medyo may pangamba na baka ma-apektuhan ang trabaho namin, kasi siyempre if in case mag-pull out ang mga call centers dito," said call center employee Rachelle Ann Fuentes.

("We're worried that our jobs may be affected in case call centers pull out from the Philippines.")

Around 80 to 85 percent of BPO firms in the Philippines are US-based companies.

Some foreign investors may already have doubts in investing in the Philippines, but this doesn't mean that the country's call center industry will crash, a financial analyst said.

"A lot of these call centers cater to the American market...For the meantime, I think we are probably going to see the BPO industry stay with us for some time," said Smith Chua, a chief investment officer and SVP at BPI.

The Philippines' BPO sector is a $25 billion a year industry with about 1.2 million workers.

Malacañang assured the industry that the President's "separation" statement does not mean severing ties with the US after the IT-BPO Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) "formally reached out to the Office of the President to secure an audience with him and directly discuss our industry’s asks from government."

The President's rhetoric has caused some "jitters" among the outsourcing industry's clients, IBPAP Executive Director Genny Inocencio-Marcial said earlier. -- Report from Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How 'boutique developers' are attracting BPO firms

MANILA – As central business districts in Metro Manila continue to suffer from congestion due to limited space, small and medium-sized developers or “boutique developers” are looking elsewhere to attract business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.

These boutique developers are constructing medium-scale office projects in strategic neighborhoods outside the central business districts such as Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City.

One developer, Fabella Realty Corporation, built the nine-storey Shaw Center and tapped a major retailer to operate a supermarket and department store on the retail floors.

The fourth to ninth floors of the building are BPO-ready office floors with a typical floor plate of 2,200 square meters.

According to JLL local director Phillip Anonuevo, office buildings like the Shaw Center are attractive to BPOs because these buildings are just a ride or two away from the residential districts of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati as well as Quezon City.

The Shaw Center is the fourth BPO building along Shaw Boulevard. Other smaller-scale BPO-ready officers are found in Kamuning, Quezon City and similar neighborhoods.

“A location near the homes of potential employees is considered a plus by BPOs now keenly competing amongst themselves for employees. As the metropolis continues to suffer from congestion brought about by record economic growth and limited new infrastructure, work places closer to home simply make better sense,” said Anonuevo.

The presence of a supermarket, department store and dining outlets within the building is also attractive to BPO firms because these establishments cater to the lifestyle and spending power of BPO employees.

The office floors, in turn, are a steady source of foot traffic for the retailers.

“It becomes a win-win situation for both the retailer seeking new markets and the BPO employer in need of new hires,” Anonuevo added.

Facilities within office buildings like Shaw Center also match those within the established business districts.

Shaw Center is fully equipped for 24/7 BPO operations with redundant generator sets, VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) air-conditioning, and six high speed elevators.

The building is also designed to accommodate only one or two BPO locators, which discourages poaching of employees, according to Anonuevo.

“We foresee more buildings like this altering the landscape of the city and the character of residential communities,” he said.

BPO firms that choose to locate in lower-rent residential-commercial areas like Mandaluyong are also generating significant savings on office rent, which is another advantage for the BPO industry, which is expected to keep expanding beyond 2020.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

BPO firm opens new facility in Clark

MANILA, Philippines - Global business process outsourcing firm Arvato has opened a new facility in Clark, Pampanga.

Arvato said the new facility will support the company's plans to double its workforce in the next three years.

Arvato, which supports multi-million dollar BPO and Customer Relationship Management program, recently opened the 2,900 square meter facility to provide additional capacity for existing and new clients.

The facility in Clark will initially provide multi-channel English-speaking customer service support for the North American region. This is part of Arvato’s global CRM delivery network of nearly 100 sites across 21 countries.

Fara Haron, Arvato executive vice president, CRM North America and Country General Manager Philippines, said the Philippines is a key location for the comapny.

"The Philippines is a key strategic location for arvato, providing the skilled employees and secure infrastructure we need to deliver best practice BPO and CRM frameworks for leading global organizations. This expansion will provide more capacity to service our existing client base and a strong platform for growth as the Philippines continues to emerge as a major outsourcing destination," Haron said.

Arvato selected Clark as its new location due to its strong supply of young, well-educated workforce. It is looking to hire up to 500 employees for the Clark site by the end of 2014.

The company expanded its operations in Manila in 2012, and has since doubled its workforce. Its client programs include a global BPO partnership with Microsoft for contract-to-invoice services, which processes approximately 80% of the IT giant’s global revenues.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

36 biggest BPO firms in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - The country's business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is expected to create around 124,000 new full-time jobs this year.

"Based on sectoral projections, we are confident that BPO firms will be able to add an average of 124,000 well-paying jobs annually from 2014 to 2016, or a total of 372,000 new posts over the next three years," Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said in a statement.

Romulo said big BPO firms are expected to drive the creation of new jobs in the country.

"As they draw in more business, the super BPO firms can quickly scale up their activities here and hire extra staff, while reducing cost per unit of output owing to greater operational efficiency," he said.

At the same time, Romulo revealed the list of the country's 36 biggest BPO firms, based on 2012 revenues.

1. Accenture Inc. (P28.104 billion in revenues);
2. Convergys Philippines Services Corp. (P17.281 billion);
3. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A-Philippine Global Service Center (P10.805 billion);
4. 24/7 Customer Philippines Inc. (P7.711 billion);
5. Telephilippines Inc. (P7.241 billion);
6. TeleTech Offshore Investments B.V. (P6.978 billion);
7. Sutherland Global Services Philippines Inc. (P6.805 billion);
8. Stream International Global Services Philippines Inc. (P6.738 billion);
9. Sitel Philippines Corp. (P6.364 billion);
10. Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd. (P5.754 billion);
11. Sykes Asia Inc. (P5.617 billion);
12. IBM Daksh Business Process Services Philippines Inc. (P5.516 billion);
13. Aegis PeopleSupport Inc. (P5.445 billion);
14. TeleTech Customer Care Management Philippines Inc. (P5.402 billion);
15. IBM Business Services Inc. (P5.211 billion);
16. Telus International Philippines Inc. (P4.962 billion);
17. Shell Shared Services (Asia) B.V. (P4.821 billion);
18. HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines) Inc. (P4.700 billion);
19. ePLDT Inc. (P4.147 billion);
20. SPi CRM Inc. (P3.501 billion);
21. ACS of the Philippines Inc. (P3.492 billion);
22. VXI Global Holdings B.V. (P3.266 billion);
23. Emerson Electric (Asia) Ltd. (P3.230 billion);
24. StarTek International Ltd. (P3.094 billion);
25. IBM Solutions Delivery Inc. (P3.019 billion);
26. Sykes Marketing Services Inc. (P2.760 billion);
27. SPi Technologies Inc. (P2.626 billion);
28. Genpact Services LLC (P2.552 billion);
29. Macquarie Offshore Services Pty. Ltd. (P2.522 billion);
30. Thomson Reuters Corp. Pte. Ltd. (P2.265 billion);
31. AIG Shared Services Corp. Philippines (P2.357 billion);
32. Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd. (P2.194 billion);
33. Lexmark Research and Development Corp. (P1.956 billion);
34. ANZ Global Services and Operations (Manila) Inc. (P1.869 billion);
35. Maersk Global Service Centers (Philippines) Ltd. (P1.859 billion); and
36. Manulife Data Services Inc. (P1.745 billion).

Romulo noted these 36 firms posted a combined revenue of P192 billion in 2012.

BPO giants such as Accenture and Convergys currently have more than 35,000 employees each in the Philippines.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Working at a BPO? Here's why you should start saving now

MANILA, Philippines – Employees of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in the country should consider saving for their future and planning for retirement as early as now, an expert on financial planning said.

Joyce Tankeh, a financial planner at Sun Life-AIM, said savvy BPO employees who are in their 20s and 30s tend to spend more because of their hefty paychecks.

Fresh college graduates can get paid a monthly salary of P20,000 at BPO firms.

“A lot of them are in their 20s, 30s, and not a lot of BPO companies really prepare for their employees’ retirement. So it’s a concern also. If they could just sit down and do their pencil pushing and reflect on the benefits that they get from their companies,” Tankeh told ANC’s “On The Money.”

Tankeh said the path to financial freedom for BPO employees begins at setting specific goals.

“They have to know what their goals are. The short-term, medium and long-term goals. It’s not just the physical goals. Let’s say if you like to travel next year, it’s doing something about it on a regular basis and not being impulsive,” she said.

Tankeh highlighted the importance of saving up for short-term goals, which include an out of town or out of the country trip and buying a gadget worth P30,000.

“It’s no joke saving up for a P30,000 gadget knowing that a lot of people only get to save P1,000 a month. It’s really something you need to plan on,” she said.

A medium-term goal includes buying that dream house or dream car while a long-term goal is retirement.

“Let’s say if you’re 25, how can you retire by 40? How can it be realistic?” she said. “That’s a common thing. I have a lot of clients who are in their 20s who say they want to retire in their 40s.”

Tankeh said setting goals are important in saving up, but it has to be backed up by a plan. She said goals should be accompanied by a clear plan on how to reduce expenses.

“Knowing expenses is important because it’s useless to have goals then not translating how you are going to push through with it. What’s the game plan?” she said.

Tankeh said failing to save up could be a result of bad habits like excessive credit card use and unnecessary personal loans.

She said the transition to becoming a saver from a spender requires a change in mindset, focusing on specific goals and being firm on reaching them.

“It’s telling them, are you really serious in making sure that you are getting what you want at a certain period of time? Then we work together, that’s where [a financial planner] comes in,” she said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com