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Business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Stream Global
Services Inc. has made its new Quezon City facility its Asia-Pacific
headquarters and is looking at expanding to areas outside Metro
Manila.
In a briefing on Monday, R. Scott
Murray, Stream Global Services chairman and chief executive, said
the company has invested between $10 million and $12 million for
this facility located at the newly renovated SM North EDSA Annex.
He added that their investment in
the training of employees would jack up the total project cost to
about $20 million.
“This [Quezon City] site will
be the company’s strategic hub for shared services in the
region,” Murray said.
Elmer San Pascual, Philippine
Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) promotions and public relations
manager, told reporters that the 1,400-seat facility is worth P524
million and is the agency’s biggest investments this month.
Murray said the company is
bullish on investing and expanding in the Philippines since the
country is one of the biggest and fastest-growing BPO sector this
side of the world. He added that the Philippines has a “very solid
call center industry” and the industry remains relatively
resilient of the global economic slowdown.
“Our business is growing even
in recessionary times,” Murray said, adding that the company has
seen its sales opportunities quadruple this year.
By year-end the company plans to
put up another facility in the country, possibly outside Metro
Manila.
Duane Cummins, Stream Global
Services regional vice president for Asia-Pacific operations, said
the company targets to employ about 3,000 workers by year-end. At
present, the company employs about 800 agents in its Makati site,
which opened last year.
Murray said the company’s
Makati and Quezon City sites will service mostly voice clients and
also some nonvoice accounts from North America and Europe.
--Ben Arnold O. de Vera
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