Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Integrated Bar members to join SONA protesters on Monday .

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said on Wednesday it will not keep silent as congressmen try to force a Senate-less constituent assembly and “trample the Constitution,” and will make its protest known during President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address on July 27.

In a forum held in Pasig City Wednesday, former IBP president Anselmo Cruz said that some 1,000 members are expected to join sectoral groups in a march and rally on Monday to show their opposition to the moves to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly.

“This present Congress that we have is so confident of trying to push an unconstitutional constituent assembly by the house operating by itself, in the absence of Senate, in a bicameral system of presidential form of government,” Cruz said.

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Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Monday, 20 July 2009

Expert says companies should look beyond fresh graduates.

Faced with the problems of shrinking talent pool, high attrition rate, and low recruitment yield, call center companies should tap other types of possible employees to meet industry demands, an expert said.

Eric Concepcion, regional vice president for human resources of Teleperformance, said that among potential call center agents are the near-hires in the industry, retirees, stay-at-home mothers, and returning overseas Filipino workers.

“The pool of talent is not growing for the past several years and this is very alarming,” Concepcion said during the recent 2009 Call Center Conference and Expo in Pasay City. He said that the number of firms competing for the talents increased while the supply of qualified labor did not.

Concepcion said companies must try to reach the alternative job market rather than rely only on the supply of fresh college graduates every year. He said that call center employees are mostly fresh graduates, coming from other call center firms, or professionals from other industries, and belonging to the 20-30-year-old age bracket.

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Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Saturday, 18 July 2009

Experts give tips on how BPOs can weather the crisis.

Adapting environment-friendly facilities and investing in incentives for employees can help minimize operational costs of call center companies during the economic crisis, a business processes outsourcing expert said.

Dave Rizzo, regional vice president for operations of Teleperformance, on Wednesday said that call center companies can save a lot of money by using green technologies.

“Electricity costs here in the Philippines is very high,” he said during the 2009 Call Center Conference and Expo held Wednesday in Pasay City.

Rizzo said that having a “green mindset” in the company by teaching employees energy and water conservation measures can help save more money for the company. He cited Teleperformance for being able to bring down utility costs by as much as 25% by continuously educating their workforce from the moment they start working about energy conservation.

“At the end of the day, those dollars and cents can be put back into the operations for additional investments,” he said.

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Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Thursday, 16 July 2009

Crisis, Obama policy taking the US out as lead market for the Philippines.

Call center companies in the Philippines should look into tapping European markets because the United States may no longer provide as many clients as it used to, industry experts said.

“Don’t put all your eggs in the US basket,” Martin Dove, managing director of Dimension Data’s CIS Global, said Wednesday during the 2009 Call Center Conference and Expo in Pasay City.

The US has been the leading market of call center companies in the Philippines, but the recent global financial crisis that hit it has put pressure on companies to tap alternative markets in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other Asia-Pacific countries.

The new US President, Barack Obama, has also promised to adopt a policy that will bring back jobs to the Americans by giving incentives to US-based companies that will not outsource their business requirements to other countries.

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Written by Jesus F. Llanto
Wednesday, 15 July 2009

Mar Roxas: Don’t price the Philippines out of the market.

Call centers may have increased their employees’ salaries too much too soon in the last 5 years that the practice may become “unsustainable” despite the the double digit growth that the industry is expected to post this year.

During the Call Center Conference & Expo 2009 in Pasay City, experts said that while industry is expected to post “healthy double digit” growth of 15-20% despite the economic crisis, companies must address the high salary inflation of call center agents.

Benedict Hernandez, president of the Contact Center Association in the Philippines (CCAP), said that salaries of call center agents increased annually by 10 percent, starting in 2004, when the industry experienced rapid growth as the Philippines became a preferred outsourcing destination.

“When you hear 10% year-on-year salary inflation, whether you’re under a global economic crisis or not, that is simply unsustainable,” Hernandez said. He advised companies to instead focus on giving performance-based incentives to their employees.

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