Top Philippine Call Center Companies

One of the demand jobs these days is working in call center companies. The call center industry provides jobs to thousands of Filipinos and there seems to be an unending need to fill in different job positions. Call centers attract many applicants especially those who are fresh out of college because the job doesn’t require any work experience although it is an advantage. You can also get hired and sign the contract on the same day that you walked in to their recruitment centers. There are lots of call center companies in the country, whether they provide services to local or international clients, and it is good to know some of the top Philippine call center companies.

Convergys Philippines Corporation

Convergys emerged in 2003 from a single contact center in Manila to 18 contact center facilities all over the Philippines. It has been awarded “BPO Employer of the Year” for the third time by International ICT Awards which is organized annually by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.

Site Locations: Bacolod, Baguio, Cebu, Laguna, Makati, Manila, Pasig, Quezon City
Website: http://www.convergys.com/company/locations/

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. established a Global Service Center in Manila in 2005, which continues to expand its scope of services. Currently, the center provides support for the customers and operations of Card Services, Retail Financial Services and Treasury and Securities Services. These support services include financial processing, mortgage operations, information technology, as well as, inbound and outbound calls for the firm’s U.S based retail and wholesale businesses.

Site Locations: Cebu, Taguig
Website: http://www.jpmorganchase.com/PHcareers

Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.

Site Locations: Mandaluyong, Taguig, Quezon City, Makati, Pasig, Cebu
Website: http://careers.accenture.com/ph-en/about/locations/Pages/index.aspx

Sitel

Sitel is involved in acquisition and sales, back office services, collections, customer care, and technical support.  It was established in Manila in 2000 and currently has 9 call centers in the Philippines that make up its largest offshore contact center hub. Languages supported are English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish. It has received several awards including Outstanding Employer for Large Enterprise and BPO Company of the Year.

Site Locations: Pasig City, Quezon City, Mandaluyong City, Baguio City
Website: http://www.sitel.com/index.php?p=Locations&id=65

SYKES Asia

SYKES Asia is the officially recognized pioneer in the Philippines call center industry.  In 1977, SYKES made history by being the first call center to support Filipino talent. With only 14 employees, SYKES began operations in the Philippines. But through its commitment to excellence, innovative process and committed team, SYKES rapidly expanded its business operations across Metro Manila, more than doubling its man power in less than 10 years. Now on its 15th year, SYKES has a team of almost 14,000 capable and dedicated employees working in 8 different sites to support Fortune 500 clients across the globe.

Website: http://www.sykes.com/careers/philippines/contactus.aspx

Telus

Telus started as a small local company known as Ambergris Solutions in 2001, with only 50 seats. They are now an important part of TELUS International, a global company that enables customer experience innovation through spirited teamwork, a caring culture, agile thinking and flexible delivery that puts customers first.  Ambergris was re-branded TELUS International Philippines in 2007. Today, TELUS International Philippines has three sites and approximately 7,000 proud team members who deliver exceptional customer service to our clients around the world.

Website: http://www.telusinternational.com.ph

HSBC Global Resourcing

Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world. HSBC's international network comprises around 7,500 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. Global Service Delivery in Philippines is represented by HSBC Electronic Data Processing (Philippines) Inc (HDPP). It comprises 2 Group Service Centres located at Metro Manila (Alabang and Quezon City) which commenced operations in 2004 and 2008 respectively.

Site Location: UP Ayala Technohub Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Website: http://www.hsbcglobalresourcing.com/country.aspx?gsc=GSC_MAN

Stream Global Services

In 2008, Stream opened its first Philippine contact center in Manila and acquired eTelecare in 2009 because of its rapid growth. Stream has been providing customer care and technical support services to customers for more than twenty-five years. Originally set up as the support arm for a U.S-based software reseller in 1983, Stream began working as an independent revenue generating division in 1995.

Site Locations: Muntinlupa, Cebu City, Pampanga, Makati, Quezon City
Website: http://careers.stream.com/content.aspx?MenuId=3

Teletech

From its center in Manila, TeleTech delivers a range of services, including business process management, facilities management, and seamless global services. TeleTech's Philippines' operation serves multinational organizations looking for cost-effective customer management solutions and services - including a global leader in broadband internet-based communications with one of the largest, most technologically advanced networks in the world. A strong partnership with the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), the leading Philippines telecommunications provider, ensures TeleTech can offer exceptional customer management centers and solutions to clients in the Philippines and overseas.

Site Locations: Bacolod, Cavite, Rizal, Cebu, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Batangas, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pampanga, Pasay, Quezon City
Website: http://www.teletechjobs.com


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Working in a Call Center: Disadvantages

Working in a call center environment is not for everyone.  From an outside view, call center work looks easy, and sometimes, even glamorous. It may seem easy making a living from sitting in front of a computer and talking on the phone, but in reality call center work is stressful and challenging. I can attest to these as I’ve been working in a call center for almost seven years now. Whew! How time flies!

After I laid down the advantages of working in a call center, call center work has its disadvantages. Clients are based overseas and because of this you will have to work at night.  Working at night can be a bitch, it takes a lot of sacrifices working night shift and maintain a normal lifestyle. Shifting schedules affect your body clock and some do find it hard to come up with this. Night shifts can destroy your sleeping pattern and make you feel drowsy all the time even when you sleep long hours during the day.

A study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) found out that on average, call center workers get less sleep than non-call center workers. They also have a higher proportion with sleep problems, particularly among female call center workers. Some other findings that could affect health are:

• Call center workers drink more coffee per day than non-call center workers
• The most common leisure activity is drinking alcoholic beverages
• A large percentage of call center workers are smokers

Aside from the health risk factors, call center workers constantly face the dangers of travelling at night. I know some friends who got mugged coming to work. 

There’s also a possibility of being robbed by some unscrupulous taxi drivers. That’s why it is important to know trusted taxi companies or be extra careful when riding a cab. If you take public transportation like buses, as I usually do, aside from hold uppers and pickpockets, the percentage of road accidents are high during night until the wee hours of the morning.

For people with family, it would be doubly hard for you to work in call centers as you may not be able to guide your kids and attend to their needs because of your working hours.  To cope up with this, I just always tell myself that it’s better than working abroad because at least I’m not away from my family.

You don’t get to observe Philippine holidays and attend important family gatherings. So forget about planning for Christmas or New Year celebrations as most likely you will end up celebrating in the office. You could be assigned to work on weekends for you can’t choose what schedule you may get.

Pressure is high when it comes to performing your daily duty because of the need to achieve targets. All call center companies have sales targets they expect the employees to meet and if the targets aren’t met within the set time period, a call center agent’s job is put at risk that may lead to attrition.

Call center work can get tiring and call center employees often complain of “brain drain” because of the monotonous nature of their job. Some will feel as if their life is being compromised and would once more search for jobs that will afford them utmost freedom or at least provide them with enough motivation to work but in the end may end up working in a another call center.


Be sure to check out the Top Call Center Companies in the Philippines.


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Working in a Call Center: Advantages

The call center industry have establishes a new culture for the people working for these companies. Being the fastest growing industry in the Philippines, call centers have attracted a large part of the Filipino workforce especially those who are fresh from college. It also paved the way for a lifestyle change for most of Filipino professionals.

The most obvious advantage of working in a call center is that the pay is good.  This is also the main reason why I shifted to this line of work after ten years of being in an academic institution. The average monthly starting basic pay for a customer service representative is between Php12,000 to Php14,000 and can go even higher for those who have previous call center experience. This is definitely a lot more than what other employees get from their normal day jobs. Those who hold supervisory and higher level positions earn a lot more. Again, these rates are just for starters, depending on your performance it can go higher to between Php25,000 to Php35,000 for an agent position. 

On top of the high pay that they are receiving, employees get allowances and bonuses. Allowances for rice/meal, transportation, clothing, and sometimes even for gas are, included in the package. Aside from the performance incentives and quarterly bonuses, some are even provided with 14th month pay. All of which are discussed to you during contract signing.

Another benefit of call center work is HMO coverage for employees and immediate family members. HMO or Health Maintenance Organization is a form of health insurance combining a range of coverage such as dental and medical. Annual coverage usually starts at Php100,000 each for the principal holder and dependents. This is very significant for me as it gives me peace of mind because the health and wellbeing of my family is of utmost importance. Just recently, I underwent Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) for a kidney stone treatment. The procedure itself costs around Php40,000 excluding medicine, screening and the post procedure tests;  it’s good that it’s covered by our health care provider.


Working in a call center provides opportunities for advancement in the company. Many businesses hire from within and working in the call center will give employees a good opportunity to learn about the company if they hope to work their way up the corporate ladder. Again, the higher you are on the ladder, the bigger pay.


Now after knowing the advantages, be sure to read the the disadvantages of working in a call center on my next article.


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Philippine Call Centers at a glance

If you like to work in the call center industry, it is important to have a bit of a background on what the business is about. This is necessary in order to avoid misconceptions and future frustrations if your expectations are not met.  Just like any other line of work, working in a call center is not as easy and glamorous as it looks so you may want to check out the pros and cons first before jumping in to the call center bandwagon.

The call center industry in our country began in 2001 as plain providers of email response and managing services. Majority of the call services provided are for the US market. At present, the call center industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the Philippines. The country has been dubbed as the “Call Center Capital of the World.”

The reason for such dynamic growth can be attributed to the lower operation and labor costs as compared to the US. Even if the average starting monthly basic salary (without allowances) of a call center agent is between Php12,000 to Php14,000, it is still just a fraction compared to what an onshore counterpart is getting.

Another thing that contributes to the success of call center industry in the Philippines would be the high proficiency of Filipinos in the English language as it is the language of instructions in schools. We are actually the third largest English speaking country in the world.

Add to that the constant stream of college-educated applicants entering the workforce that are highly skilled and overall motivated; it’s no wonder why the call center industry is a success in the Philippines.

This is just a glance of what the Philippine call center industry is, an overview of what to expect when looking for a call center job. If you want to know about the benefits and limitations of pursuing a career in the call center industry, then proceed to the next article about this topic.

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Working in a call center

I've been thinking of something to write about to update this blog but never seem to come up with anything.  The gloomy weather and the heavy and sustained fall of rain are not helping. And then the idea dawned on me. Why not write something relating to my present work? Seems easy eh?

It's not actually easy as I think of, writing about working in a call center is a vast topic so I decided to come up with several subtopics to make it easier for me and you to browse through this. So here are my tentative list of articles and what to expect in the coming days:

• Philippine Call Centers at glance
• Advantages and disadvantages of working in a call center
• What are the jobs to apply for in a call center
• Top call center companies in the Philippines
• How to apply for a call center job
• How to land a job in a call center

Again, the above list is just tentative and may change as we go along with this topic. I encourage you to share your inputs - whether it is a question or recommendation.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/banggigay

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