MANILA, Philippines — Global mobility platform Uber unveiled yesterday its latest investment in the Philippines, strengthening further the country’s position as a strategic hub for shared support services.
With the Philippines already housing Uber’s largest Center of Excellence (COE) facility globally which is located in Manila, the company decided to further ramp up its support services operations in the country with a $1.5 million investment in Clark.
The Clark COE is designed to provide specialized support for critical incidents that require immediate attention.
It will employ teams of “solution-oriented and trusted advisors” to support millions of customers across the Asia Pacific region and around the world.
Located in Skytech IT Park in Pampanga, near the business district of Clark, the 2,919-square meter facility will initially employ 165 customer service specialists who will provide world-class support to the Uber community once its starts operations this month.
Uber intends to more than double the facility’s workforce and bring it to 400 by yearend.
“The Philippines is already home to Uber’s largest Center of Excellence globally, and I’m delighted to unveil our second center today, in Clark, and reaffirm our commitment to the Philippines, and the Asia Pacific region, through this significant investment,” Uber global head of community operations Troy Stevenson said.
“It’s good just to have multiple sites sometimes. It means that if there is a weather problem or some issue where we just need redundancy of coverage, it’s helpful to spread out a little bit,” Stevenson said.
Uber said the Clark COE would provide support via multiple channels – email, phone, video chat and social media – to ensure seamless customer experience before, during, and after the ride.
The new Clark COE, while technically located in Mabalacat, is named after the closest port of entry following a tradition in Uber offices around the world and provides an easy landmark reference for worldwide operations.
Uber’s first Asia Pacific COE opened in Manila in 2015 in a 5,500 sqm office in Bonifacio Global City. The facility employs over 1,182 team members at present.
“It was an easy decision to deepen our investment in the Philippines and open a second Center of Excellence in Clark, complementing our existing Manila team,” said Wen-Szu Lin, Uber’s director of community operations for Asia Pacific.
“We’re pleased to be able to create new economic opportunities for talented professionals with the goal to more than double the team in Clark by the end of the year, while expanding our global support services from this strategic location,” Wen-Szu Lin said.