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Call Center Tops Vacancies


STUDENTS, fresh graduates and workers are urged to continuously enhance their skills in communications and other aptitudes since investments and demand for call center agents continue to grow.
Latest data from the Phil-JobNet system, the government’s main jobs-and-skills matching portal in the Internet, consistently affirmed that opportunities for call center agents remain on top along with other local job opportunities.
The Bureau of Local Employment which hosts the online Phil-jobNet system, said there are currently almost 14,000 job-skills matching opportunities for call center agents in the system, topping the list of 50 vacancies posted by various industries.


“Currently leading the top 50 vacancies available from employers in the online system are call center agents (13,581 vacancies), customer service assistants (3,709), production workers/factory workers (3,428), and numerous other opportunities,” noted BLE director Ma. Criselda Sy, adding there are presently a total of 89,684 vacancies of all types posted by employers alongside 7,753 skills-for-hires.
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Porn Case vs Call Center Junked


A FISCAL dismissed the case against a Davao City-based call center accused of selling pornographic sites and materials online for lack of evidence.
Court record showed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Davao Region sued some Cyber City Teleservices officials for violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Republic Act 8792, or the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000.
The filing of the case against the call center came after the CIDG Task Force Group Maverick conducted a raid at Cyber City on August 4 by virtue of a search warrant issued by then Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Isaac Robillo.
The team seized and confiscated 10 units of desktop computers.
Prosecutor Gaye Canete-Magdagasang, in her resolution dated October 7, however, said: "There is, however, no showing or no evidence at hand or no proper description that would strengthen the claim of the officers (CIDG)."
She said the documents submitted by CIDG showed no forensic result on the 10 desktop computers, which allegedly showed a pornographic site, thus the dismissal of the case.
Bert Barriga, Information and Technology Communication (ICT) Davao former president, said in Wednesday’s Club 888 at the Marco Polo Hotel that the Cyber City worked it out with its legal counsel.
He said the complaint was already addressed properly and there will be a clear rule of engagement next time.
Read the rest of the story HERE.
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3rd International Outsourcing Summit to Focus on Non-voice, Complex IT-BPO Services

In just under two months, The Philippines will host its third Annual International Outsourcing Summit (IOS), a landmark event for the burgeoning IT-BPO industry. Sessions led by over 70 expert speakers and panelists will focus on the profound shift in the IT-BPO landscape from process-based services such as managing customer relationships, to knowledge-based services including project engineering and management and risk assessment.

Manila, Philippines (PRWEB) August 16, 2011
The Philippines will host the Third Annual International Outsourcing Summit (IOS), a landmark event for IT-BPO industry, with sessions led by over 70 expert speakers and panelists speaking to over 300 international delegates.

According to organizers, the summit provides a platform to assess progress towards development goals provided in the IT-BPO Road Map 2011-2016, which projects potential annual growth of up to 20% over the next five years, generating 1.3 million direct jobs, 3.2 million indirect jobs, and US$25 billion in revenues. The event is organized by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP).

While traditional voice-based BPO will contribute substantially to that growth, non-voice, complex services are expected to be the principal engine of growth for the industry, according to Raymond Lacdao, Industry Affairs Executive Director of BPAP.

“We anticipate growth in non-voice, complex IT-BPO services of 20-25% over the next five years,” Lacdao said. “Voice-based services will grow at a rate of 15-20%,” he said. “IOS 2011 was designed to focus attention of the industry on the potential of non-voice, complex IT-BPO services, and to increase the global visibility of the Philippines’ capability for delivering these services.”

This year’s summit also includes a session on how the industry can extend its leadership in the industry through innovating new services, including research and development. “Last year, we became the global leader in voice BPO,” Lacdao said. “But we are rapidly transitioning to non-voice, complex services delivery. We want to demonstrate that the Philippines has a very high capability in this area, including emerging complex services.”

Session speakers and panelists represent a variety of industry stakeholders. They include Ralph Guggenheim, founding member of Pixar Animation Studios and CEO of Alligator Planet; Paul Robinson, vice president for Finance Process - Expenditure, Shell Shared Services Asia BV; Jackie O’Leary, vice president of Customer Operations, Everything Everywhere.

Read the rest of the story HERE.


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Call Center Agent Hit By Oil Tanker

A call center agent died after he was hit by an oil tanker at Taft Avenue in Pasay City on Tuesday.

The victim, 20-year-old John Gabriel Diala, was hit by an oil tanker while he was standing at the road’s center island around midnight.

According to a witness, Diala was waiting for a chance to reach the other side of the road when he was hit and dragged by the oil tanker to a Light Rail Transit (LRT) post.

“Hawak nya pa yung cellphone nung na-sandwich sa poste, labas ang bituka at naputol ang kanang binti,” said barangay watchman Nel Garcia.

Garcia added the oil tanker was trying to race ahead of a bus before the accident.

“Nakikipagkarera sa bus e, tinamaan nya pa nga sa may likod yung bus bago bumangga dyan,” he said.

Another witness said the oil tanker’s driver and his companion immediately left the scene.

The victim’s mother, Ella Diala, meanwhile, is seeking justice for the death of her eldest son.

“Hindi kita titigilan hanggang di mo pinagbabayaran ang ginawa mo sa anak ko,” Diala said.
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Cops Raid 'Sex Toy Call Center' in Davao City


The Philippine Police, say they raided an alleged distribution center for pornography , but hundreds of workers say cops raided a Sex Toy or novelty item selling call center in the Southern Philippines.

In what some describe as 'a real life crisis that could be an episode on the TV show outsourced.'

Cops now have hundreds of computers they seized, as well as lawyers for the outsourced service provider warns, financial information of tens of thousands of 'novelty' customers are in Philippine Police hands.

It all happened Thursday in Davao City - where Call Center Phone order takers suddenly faced police raiding teams with assault rifles and backed up by Police in SWAT teams.

The raid's purpose based on a issued search warrant was to curb pornography sales which Police have vowed to stamp out.

The company is openly saying someone may have misinformed police - lkely disgruntled employees or business rivels. While they admit some of the novlety items they are selling are often called  'sex toys' which they market for a client to international customers.

Then workers worried over jobs they might lose - went viral; the scene turned into a instant 'people power protest',

As scores of workers who said they were merely taking phone orders for a unnamed US based novelty company held a instant prayer rally. Those tech savvy among sellers then blogged and tweeted and text-ed and facebooked what they called was over-kill by authorities versus the firm.

Something denied strongly by Police Officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group's, Davao based, Task Force Maverick. "We followed the law, there is a search warrant, we are invstigating.' cops who raided the business process outsourcing or (BPO) firm in Davao City after receiving tips from informers that the BPO is involved allegedly also into pornography sales.

Which is against the law in the Philippines.

Police claimed in the application for the search warant, they believe pornography, including the possible sales of child porn, was occuring something cops are quick to point out they will never tollerate.

Images and videos from the Philippines which bans with stiff penalities the making of - even though it is a major provider online of such materials all illegal - according to global police agencies like INTERPOL whose efforts to curb the trade are focused on places like the developing world.

This was the subject of the search warrant, The Philippine Police raiding team hit Cyber City Teleservices on Sobrecary St., of the Philippines third largest community of Davao City and confiscated more than 600 computes and client documents, which contain credit card numbers, and billing information.

Authorities showed media the recovered "sex toy brochures" and comuters all properly secured in a police storeroom - from outbound call center sales office. But no 'novelty items' the group were selling.

If found to have been engaged in pornography sales the owners as well as the client face criminal prosecution - by law it is illegal to be filmed, produced, or, edited in the country. It is increasingly a popular destination for providing outsourced services for the trade.

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Philippines To Overtake India As World's Call Center Capital



The Philippines would soon overtake India as the call center capital of the world, a recent study by Everest Research Institute showed.

The Philippines' call center revenues are expected to reach $5.7 billion this year or $200 million higher compared to India's $5.5 billion. BPO revenues, on the other hand, are forecast to hit $9.5 billion, playing catch-up to India's $12.4 billion.

The Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) said beating India in the call center business was not "far-fetched" as more companies based there start moving their operations in the Philippines.

"[More] clients are going here," said BPAP executive director for external affairs, Martin Crisostomo.

The shift to the Philippines is attributed to several factors: the country's workforce has better English-speaking skills, the Philippines' telecommunications network is superior to that of India, higher incentives for companies setting up business here, and Filipinos' affinity with the American culture.

Younger industry

In terms of scale, India's sheer size far outweighs the Philippines. 

India, too, has began exploring the BPO industry 10 years ahead of the Philippines. 

The Philippines’ workforce is no match to India’s, given their total population of 92 million and 1 billion, respectively, a BPAP executive has stressed in a previous interview. 

Low-margin, entry point

Among the menu of services currently offered by outsourcing and offshoring firms, such as those based in the Philippines, the voice-based or the traditional call center sector has one of the lowest profit margins.

Even Indian BPO firms have long realized that their competitiveness--and fatter profit margins--could be best realized in the non-voice sectors, including financial, legal, medical engineering and editorial services, among others. 

Among several permutations of the BPO business model is to have the low-end call center services in the Philippines, which has cultural affinity with the mostly American clients, while the up-market technical services are based in India. 

A multi-country model also bodes well for BPO firms concerned about managing their business' country risks.

The Indian industry group National Association of Software and Service Companies, or NASSCom, and the BPAP keep ties for partnerships and business exchanges.

Majority of the BPAP member firms still offer call center services but considers this as simply their entry point to get a biggest slice of the clients' more profitable non-voice services.   

Employment boom

Call centers may be low-end and low-margin, but for the Philippines it meant an employment boom. 

Crisostomo noted that the growing local BPO industry should not only translate to higher economic growth, but also more jobs.

In the call center sector alone, some 60,000 jobs will be up for grabs next year.

"We are hiring a lot," noted Bong Uichanco, Asia-Pacific sales director of BPO firm Stream Global Services.

The BPO industry has just released its latest roadmap, wherein its revenues and workforce are targeted to reach $25 billion and 1.3 million, respectively, from $9 billion and 500,000 today.

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Convergys Corporation is Among the World’s Top 5 Outsourcing Companies



Cincinnati-based Convergys Corporation, a global leader in relationship management which has extensive outsourcing operations in the Philippines, announced that it has been named one of the Top 5 outsourcing companies in the world.

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals bestowed this distinctive honor on Convergys in its annual ranking of the world’s Top 100 providers of outsourced services.

The IAOP looked at many criteria, including size and growth, global presence, customer experience, company recognition, employee development, and management capabilities, to determine Convergys’ Top 5 ranking for this prestigious honor.

In addition to Convergys’ Top 5 ranking, the IAOP also named Convergys to the Best 5 Leaders list for Sales services.

From a single contact center which opened in Manila in 2003, Convergys now has 15 contact center facilities in the Philippines with eight located throughout Metro Manila, four in Cebu City, one in Bacolod City, one in Santa Rosa, Laguna, and another under construction in Baguio City, its first in Northern Luzon. With a workforce nearly 30,000-strong, Convergys is one of the Philippines’ largest private employers.
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Philippines Lifted By Outsourcing Boom


The Philippines’ fast-growing business-process outsourcing industry has turned the Asian nation into a major center for off-shored information tech services. The country recently passed India as the world’s top outsourcing destination, according to a report by the services arm of International Business Machines - which has a major presence in the country. 

The outsourcing industry has become a major driver of employment growth, highlighted by the presence of major IT services companies such as IBM, Accenture and Convergys.

However, that growth has come at a cost, as the industry and the Philippines struggles with social issues among young workers who sleep during the day and work at night — and for whom happy hour is 6 a.m.
“Ten years ago, we had maybe about 25,000 people in the industry,” said Jose Mari Mercado, business development director at Convergys in the Philippines, who said that number reached about half a million last year. 

“The interest in the Philippines has really grown tremendously in the last five years,” he added.
While business outsourcing is typically associated with call centers, the industry actually covers a range of IT services, including customer relations, human resources, accounting and even more specific functions, such as mortgage processing. 

In 2010, the Philippines’ IT and business process outsourcing grew 26% to $8.9 billion, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines. Workers and professionals employed by the industry grew by 24%, the industry association said. 

Globally, outsourcing is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.3%, reaching $191 billion in 2015, according to an IDC report. 

“The BPO services landscape has crossed the chasm and is now poised to significantly impact the efficiency of a customer’s operations,” analyst Mukesh Dialani said in a statement.
Last month, Standard & Poor’s issued a neutral outlook on the overall IT consulting and services, citing “an elevated level of caution on spending on IT services that were more discretionary in nature.” But S&P, citing data, also pointed to “pockets of strength” including projected growth in business outsourcing.

For those who wants some stock market numbers, read the rest of the story HERE. 
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