Business outsourcing industry gets government boost

President Arroyo said yesterday the government will continue supporting the vigorous growth of the call center and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country with the right policies, quality manpower resource and the infrastructure needed to cut down the cost of connectivity.

She said this was the reason she funded various scholarship programs to make would-be workers in the call center and BPO industry more competitive.

Upon her arrival from a four-day state visit to Saudi Arabia last Thursday, Mrs. Arroyo also proposed that a P250-million student loan fund be set up as an incentive for schools not to increase their fees this year.

The Commission on Higher Education also put a cap of 7.6 percent on tuition increases by private institutions to keep them within the annual inflation rates.

In her message during the grand opening of Teletech’s largest BPO center at Robinsons Place in Cainta, Rizal, Mrs. Arroyo described the development of call centers and outsourcing as one of the brightest spots for the economy because it "uses the country’s greatest resource — our people."

"Our people are our greatest resource, whether they are our one million workers in Saudi Arabia or our 100,000 workers in our business process outsourcing industry," she said.

Calling the BPO industry the "new symbol of competitiveness," Mrs. Arroyo pointed out that her administration had released P500 million for high school vouchers "so that our young people can study in private high schools."

Another P500 million was released for scholarships to finishing schools to enable young Filipinos to cope with the manpower requirements of the industry, particularly fluency in the English language.

"We have moved up the value chain and our country will continue to support the BPO industry with the right policies," Mrs. Arroyo said.

She noted that Teletech’s hiring rate increased to 21 percent of its applicants. "I’m very happy that Teletech has a very high hiring rate," she added.

Mrs. Arroyo said the country’s telecommunications infrastructure improved tremendously, resulting in lower cost of communication — the key to the success of the BPO industry.

The government is determined to improve the economy and efforts at governance such as fighting graft, among others, "but there are no quick fixes and the competitiveness and the enduring drive of the Filipinos will carry us through," she said.

"We are making headway due to our good governance and fiscal performance. Our economy is on a winning streak due to the tough decisions we make," Mrs. Arroyo said, as she pointed out that the "flowback" of a growing economy would trickle down to the grassroots through enhanced basic services.

The Teletech BPO Center in Cainta, Rizal is the largest customer management center in the country. It is also Teletech’s fourth and largest center in the Philippines.

The 11,000-square meter facility houses more than 1,000 modular work stations and has world-class training rooms, e-learning laboratories, and employee-client friendly rooms.

Craig Reines, Teletech vice president and general manager for North Asia, said that by the end of this year, Teletech expects to employ more than 10,000 Filipinos as the company expands its BPO operations to the provinces.

To date, Teletech employs 6,000 Filipinos in its BPO centers in Fort Bonifacio, Pasay City and Novaliches, Quezon City.