BPO firm invests P900 million for new buildings at Asiatown

CEBU, Philippines – Multinational business process outsourcing (BPO) company, Aegis PeopleSupport spends close to P900 million to develop two mid-rise buildings at the Asiatown IT Park.

 It is the first company-owned and developed facility by Aegis PeopleSupport in the Philippines, signifying the strong confidence of India-based Essar Enterprise in the Philippines BPO sector.

 Essar Enterprise, one of the top three giant corporations in India, owns the Aegis PeopleSupport, after it acquired the company from an American company few years back.

Aegis Limited chief operating officer Sudhir Agarwal said the company is expecting to complete the construction of the 15-story building or phase one in the next 18 months, the phase two of the next 11-story building will be constructed immediately after.

Aegis PeopleSupport, which is providing a total of 8,400 jobs in the whole country, of which over 3,000 are based in Cebu, acquired a 3,600 square-meter lot at the Asiatown IT Park. The close to P900 million investments excluded its expenditure on the lot, said the company’s president Bong Borja.

Industry-wide, it is the first BPO-owned and developed buildings being built in Cebu, although there are dedicated buildings for a certain company, so far, only Aegis PeopleSupport invested and created its own property arm to own and operate a BPO building in Cebu, said Cebu Investments and Promotions Center (CIPC) managing director Joel Mari Yu.

The first 11-story building will offer between 2,200 to 2,500 BPO seats. Agarwal said the company targets to employ between 12 thousand to 15 thousand people in the next two years.

Compared to India, the Philippines has a distinct edge when it comes to voice-service competence, he said Filipino’s affinity to American culture is one of its advantage over other nationalities, or Indians.

“Filipinos are not just good English speakers, but also very disciplined workforce. The voice quality [or English proficiency] is extremely good,”said Rajiv Ahuja, Aegis PeopleSupport chief operating officer for Philippines and India operations.

Although the company is aggressive in its expansion plans in the Philippines, Ahuja said it has to focus on facility expansion in the three major locations in Manila (Makati), Baguio, and Cebu.

Cebu, on the other hand, will become the center facility in the South, while the company maintains its recruitment and training center in neighboring regions and provinces or in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Aegis, the new owner of PeopleSupport, is one of the fastest growing BPO companies in the world. It is owned by Essar Group of India, which businesses are into mining, power, shipping, telecom, logistics and construction, among others.

Essar, is a US$50 billion corporation that earns an average of US$24 million annually. —Ehda M. Dagooc