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American BPO to hire more agents using ?work-at-home? model
American BPO to hire more agents using ‘work-at-home’ model
Monday, 04 October 2010 00:00
AN American-owned business process-outsourcing (BPO) firm will expand its workforce as it expects the Philippines to become the global leader in the outsourcing industry. Vector BPO will hire about 1,500 people, the majority for its voice services, in the next 18 months.
The Cebu-based full-service contact center is scouting for a potential site in Mega Manila for a facility that will increase its seats from less than 200 to 750.
“We will be eyeing other locations. We will be on the island of Luzon next, now that we’re more familiar with the Philippines,” Paul Flannery, Vector BPO president and chief executive officer, said.
Flannery said the company is considering a new office in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig, Clark in Pampanga and Laguna. The expansion will cost about P270 million, he said.
The firm uses BPO service provider inContact’s cloud-based solutions, which consolidates information in the internet, thus enabling agents to work from their homes.
“Because of the use of inContact’s software, we are evaluating the work-at-home model which could potentially work in Manila and other places,” said Flannery.
Vector BPO’s workforce can increase once the company adopts the work-at-home model, which in the US employs 200,000 to 300,000 agents.
The company is also evaluating plans to enter the legal knowledge process outsourcing business because of its higher return.
“In the legal area, the spread is just enormous . . . The potential in higher expertise is more revenue per person, which is higher than the voice sector,” Flannery said.
Besides establishing its presence in Luzon, Vector BPO will also pursue its expansion plans in the Cebu market. It leases half of an eight-storey building in the city and is looking to take over the remaining floors as the company grows its workforce.
“Cebu is not prone to flooding. Businessmen are choosing the location for their BPOs with consideration of typhoon avoidance in mind. Cebu has worked out well for us,” Flannery said.
Vector BPO offers in inbound services such as customer support, customer retention, sales desk/order capture, and technical support. It also offers outbound services including telemarketing, surveys and polling, notifications, customer retention and collections.