Why Call Centers Are NOT Investing in Davao
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The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry has decried the practice of call-center companies to recruit call-center agents from Davao City for their branches in Cebu or elsewhere. The chamber’s Andre Fornier had a mouthful to say about the matter:
“Cebu is bragging that they have enough call center agents, but most of their agents and also Manila-based call center agents came from Davao. We will not support call centers which are only making Davao City as a recruitment ground. Of course we cannot stop them from doing so, we have no law for that, but we will not encourage our people to be a call center agent in Manila or in Cebu,” he said.
But are these call-center companies really the problem?
Fornier said these companies should put up their offices in Davao but that so far only two, according to him, have done so while the rest have failed to deliver on their promise to invest in Davao. “Call centers in Manila have been promising for so long to open call centers here, but after they get their agents from here, they go back to Manila and forget their promise,” Fornier said.
Fornier insists that it is not so much that Davao lacks the facilities or infrastructure to host call-center companies; he says Davao is comparable to Cebu in this regard. Whatever it is, these companies probably thought that making Davao a recruitment ground is more sensible, investment-wise. Perhaps these companies figured that, instead of spending on bricks-and-mortars offices, they’d save more money if they just recruited from the provinces.
This, however, completely undermines what has been touted as the industry’s greatest contributions to the economy — to spread the wealth of the call-center industry to the provinces and to generate jobs in these places. Of course, call centers have been put up in the provinces but if this recruitment trend continues — and it looks like it will, considering the active recruitment by these companies in such areas as Davao and Cagayan de Oro — there may come a time that the companies will find out that, in the end, it might be cheaper to do business in major urban areas such as Cebu and Manila. The signs, as this issue suggests, already point to that.
Perhaps one factor that these businesses are considering is the labor force in these provinces. Considering the fact that these companies only hire between 5 and 10 percent of those who apply as call-center agents, mainly because of poor English skills, it doesn’t make sense to spend millions of pesos on a call-center office, only to find out later that the labor market cannot supply the demand. Thus, it would make better sense for them to just select the creme de la creme of such areas as Davao.
These companies, like any other businesses, don’t like to venture into areas that have limited infrastructure, which is still common in the provinces, and with questionable sustainability as far as labor supply is concerned. They cannot be expected to build these infrastructure requirements. Somebody else — in this case, the government — must build it and then they will come. They cannot be expected to improve the English skills of the labor force — that is the duty of the government and the education system.
The challenge, therefore, lies in the local governments, to make sure that they meet the requirements for an industry that is highly dependent on digital technology and superb manpower. It’s pointless to rail against these companies and castigate them for not investing in Davao. There’s a reason why they don’t. As the chamber itself should know, the bottomline is always whether they can get maximum returns on their investments. If they can’t, why bother? (Carlos H. Conde/davaotoday.com)
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December 7th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Mr. Fornier,
Its totally wrong to blame call center companies for the failure of Davao to attract outsourcing business. My suggestion is very simple: improve further Davao’s capabilities (e.g., infrastructure, manpower, etc) and im sure sooner or later, they (locators) will come.
Just raise Davao’s business attractiveness, Mr. Fornier.
December 8th, 2006 at 5:53 am
I completely agree with you sir, call centers are only draining our human resources in the city and that they are proud of it; however, maybe there really is a problem on why they don’t consider putting branches in the city, one is the lack of infrastructure…i believe we just had our first IT park? CDO even got first regarding it..davao is really left out..im here in cebu and im seeing tremendous IT growth here which really encourages Call center companies to invest here..there are also dozens of IT parks sprouting just everywhere…with these the government of cebu is now planning to consider the island of cebu as an IT hub and as a Sillicon Valley. Let us work with our infrastructure…human resource is a No problem in davao…
December 8th, 2006 at 5:57 am
and may i ask…why is davao so slow in growth compared to cebu?
December 8th, 2006 at 7:44 am
It always start with them recruiting there. Then sooner or later, when they find out that a lot of their people can come from there, then they will start thining of setting up operations.
If you can get 10 people from Davao, it is better to spend to relocate them. If you can get 80 good people there, ti is better to spend setting up an office than relocating so many people.
December 9th, 2006 at 9:21 am
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January 5th, 2007 at 11:52 am
it’s very frustrating to see Davao is left out with all this progress. Just like us here in Cebu, we work here and the taxes we’re paying are all enjoyed by Cebu, as a matter of fact our origin (Davao) must enjoy the revenue if only we work there. It also feels so bad that we work far from our family. BUt what can we do but select the best option for the living, right? One thing also that we observe is that Davao is tagged as “NOT A SAFE PLACE” with the fact that it’s part of the so called MINDANAO where war is always present… THE ONLY REASON THAT THESE CALL CENTER COMPANIES HESITATE TO PUT UP A HUB IS BCOZ OF THE SECURITY…. Look at Bacolod, Dumaguete, Ilo-ilo… These cities are far from Davao,, Davao is much more marketable but call centers opted to establish their business there than with Davao… WHY NOT HAVE A MASSIVE CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE AND SECURITY IN THE WHOLE MINDANAO??? and When there is peace there is prosperity in ones place…
January 5th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
[...] One of our most commented-on post was the one about why call centers are not putting up shops in Davao. The most recent comment was posted by Ela, who is from Davao but works at a call center in Cebu. Her observation about Davao is shared by many. Check out the other comments. [...]
January 6th, 2007 at 2:18 am
I agree with both Jack Sierra and Dexter Evangelio.
Rather than blaming these companies, why not look at what these BPOs require? You have been protesting that other cities specifically Cebu got alot of call centers or other BPOs than us but then again Mr Fornier, do we have the capability to house these BPOs? Our very first IT Park is still on the construction stage. CDO had their IT Park years ago. CDO is part of Mindanao yet a number of call center operators expressed their interest to set up their operations in CDO. As a matter of fact, some of them are already operating in CDO. Why? Because they have the capability to house these companies.
Let’s say a callcenter or BPO will decide today to set up an operation in Davao…any suggestion to where we can have them operate in Davao City?
I think its not mainly in the “security issue”. We (in Davao) have been using this as an excuse for ages now. Let’s say an investor backed out, we would say - kc natakot sa security natin..kc we are mindanao. that’s a lame excuse! If that’s the case, then why is CDO progressing faster now than Davao? Why did Ayala decided to set up their mall and business park in CDO instead in Davao? Why are other investors investing in CDO now than in Davao? Why are other call centers are relocating now in CDO than in Davao?
When the Philippine Advertising Congress this year opted to be held in Cebu again instead of Davao, im pretty sure some of us would say again and again - Nasa Mindanao kc tayo….natakot sa security..etc. When in fact one of the clear reason is that we do not have a site or a convention center that can hold such events.
But that’s a big NO! NO! we need to improve our infrastructures. we need to make Davao more attractive to the market. We need to let these investors know that Davao exist instead of throwing press releases against them!
January 6th, 2007 at 2:20 am
..by the way, CEBU is bragging..coz they have the right to. Yes, we have the manpower..but do we have the infrastructures….DO WE HAVE THE IT PARKS AND ZONES than can house these centers? the answer is obvious- NONE!
January 6th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Guys, there’s only one answer is “SECURITY, SECURITY” I have brother and sister still reside in Mindanao. They advice me not to go in Davao because there’s so many kidnaping around Mindanao. Instead when I visit Philippines we get together in Cebu City. Mindanao never really safe; specially many innocent children has been killed; regardless whatever they’d have done killing those children it bothers me so much because they can’t help themself. And the Mayor in Davao is not doing something about it. So, can you blame those company? absolutely not. So there’s my two cents worth.
January 9th, 2007 at 1:34 am
kidnapping in Davao? I beg to disagree J.Wosham. Try googling some information or check out the news and see if you could find any info about latest kidnappings in Davao. To date, Davao City is the safest “metro” city in the country. However, the city is dangerous for the criminals!
The problem is with our Infrastructures and Image! Gee…Davao is even safer than Cebu and Manila. Our family got residences in Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Most of the petty crimes and murders can be found in Manila and Cebu.
Can you find a bus exploding in the middle of the city street in Davao? No, but that happened in Makati, Metro Manila. Or a girl shot and killed just because of her cellphone? That’s in Cebu!
I’m not sure where in Mindanao your sis and bros reside…Maybe in Basilan…..but the things u are describing is not happening in Davao! Why trust my opinion? well….even the Tourism Ministers of other countries converged in Davao during the ASEAN TOURISM FORUM and have proven all those negative images about Davao wrong.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Hi All
My views will be very limited and on a slightly different line of thought; as an outsider.
I represent Drishti from India and we are in business of providing technology for Call Centers. We have had multiple setups in manila / makati.
We looked at Davao and Cebu also.
Though it might seem strange but the kind of effort one has to spend in setting up technology is phenomenoly large in Davao.
A Call Center sits on 3 pillars:
-> People
-> Campaigns
-> Technology
From what everyone is discussing people can not be a road blocker. Campaings, I am sure are available from manila or direct reference.
The only problem is technology in terms of connectivity / voIP etc.
The ecosystem has to evolve apart from other conducive factors like security etc.
June 26th, 2007 at 6:12 am
I work for an outsourcer of a big US computer company here in Cebu. A lot of us come from Mindanao, around 50-65% is my guess. We want to work at home but I don’t think it’s possible, for now.
The company I work for does not consider opening in Davao or any other city in Mindanao and it’s a very sad thing really. Their main reason is SECURITY.
I disagree with this. Davao is the safest place in the country. Anyone who’s been there I’m sure will agree. The government made peace and order the top priority for years ug murag nabyaan na ang economy. I hope the government will do something about it. And yes, I agree, we lack in some infrastructures, but surely the govt can do something about it. Please make us go home!
July 5th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
METRO DAVAO is a VERY SAFE place! it is the people who are criticizing davao, because they just feel jealous of the progressing zone of DAVAO. I agee, that davao is NOW lack of buildings and IT parks to shed these agents. But i still believe that davao is now facing the HIGHLY-PROGRESSIVE-ECONOMY. Other people who are not living inside METRO DAVAO, probably they don’t really feel the BOOMING of the city!
July 5th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
many local business men are now planning to put up a call centers here in the city.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
NO KIDNAPPING! happened inside METRO DAVAO! DAVAO is the SAFEST CITY in the south east asia region, and the SAFEST METROPOLITAN in the COUNTRY… DAVAO is a DANGEROUS CITY for the CRIMINALS ONLY!!! if your a criminal, don’t plan to live here!
July 5th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
i really HATE CEBU CITY and the PEOPLE who lived there!!!
CEBU CITY- 1569=progress 47% ONLY
DAVAO CITY- 1937=progress 61%
CEBU CITY-438 YEARS
DAVAO CITY-70 YEARS..368 YEARS YOUNGER than cebu city! COMPARE THE YEARLY ECONOMY guys!
July 16th, 2007 at 11:57 am
CJ duterte, your views on development is actually dumb, do you mean to say davao city was only inhabited by people in 1937? and the actual establishment of the city itself like roads, setting up of business establishments in davao started in 1937????? get your facts straight, youre comparing cebu city’s discovery with davao city’s charter day!
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:41 pm
To attract more call centers to Davao?
Improve the attractability of Davao to investors. Put yourselves in the investors’ shoes. They’ll need:
1)PEZA-accredited sites
2)Infrastructure-both in offices and telco/IT; different choices of telco providers
3)Short-term tax relief programs
4)Extensive support from local government and non-government agencies
5)Labor pool
If you look at the above, Davao has:
1)Very low number of PEZA-accredited sites. Sutherland has had difficulty in looking for PEZA-accredited sites. Other major call centers have difficulty too (Convergys scouted for possible sites but were quite dismayed. Teletech has been waiting too-but may wait for Robinson’s mall to finish).
2)Only one dominant provider - PLDT. Investors would want several different choices, for cost and value added benefits. I only see 1 or 2 usable buildings (for major call centers).
3)I’m not quite sure of the tax relief programs of the Davao City government. No active advertising seen or active promotions.
4)There is good support from non-government groups but very little from the government. Investors need more strategic support.
5)Labor pool is good. Problem is many above average workers are now working in Manila and Cebu. Davao operators must be able to lure them back. This may be difficult: Word from the labor market is even Link2support offers way below labor market expectation. Operators must offer good compensation to attract back the workers from Manila and Cebu.
So many work needs to be done among private and government citizens of Davao to lure call centers in city. Or else, city gets left behind, even by the smaller Cagayan de Oro or even Dumaguete (Teletech chose Dumaguete over Davao a couple of years ago-because of the above reasons)
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:45 pm
…just to add. If you ask the leaders of the major call centers. It’s not the peace and order issue or other perception issues of the city.
It’s just simply the lack of good infrastructure, PEZA accreditation, several telco providers, tax programs and government support. It’s that simple.
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I find only one person here whose words are so rusty against Cebu.
don’t ever compare davao to cebu coz u know already the trend that reality bites so well.
Peace!
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
here’s my opinion for you guys. In the world of speedy capitalism, Trade mission is ur BIG problem. That’s y even smaller cities have surpassed u in some aspect in economic growth and development.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:13 am
I agree with Dominic. The peace and order issue has not been the driver for vendors (call centers and BPOs) not to invest in Davao.
It’s the terrible lack of Davao local government support. I think none of the local government officials have any knowledge of how to support this industry. Take PEZA-accreditation. Does Davao City even have any PEZA accredited buildings?
PLDT is I think the only major telecommunications provider in Davao. If you have a LOT of providers, you’ll have cheaper rates. PLDT is making a killing in charging exorbitant prices because of its monopoly in Davao.
I don’t think labor pool is a problem. There are thousands of talented Davaoeno call center agents in Manila and some of them are managers. Even in major call centers or captive shared services centers in Manila, there are senior executives and managers who come from Davao.
Once the problems or obstacles in Davao are removed, call centers and BPOs will flock to Davao. But they have to offer competetive rates to lure Davaoeno professionals from Manila.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:23 am
Cebu City???
Cebu City is over 400 years old. It has the oldest school (Univ of San Carlos founded in 1595), the oldest street (Collon), etc. But why doesn’t it look like it has developed and improved much in over 4 centuries? What did they do in 400 years?
Davao City is only less than 80 years old. Davao never even existed before the 20th century. But look at how the city grew and developed in just a short period of time.
What took Davaoenoes only 8 decades, Cebuanos took over 4 centuries. Nakakahiya. New York City is also over 400 years old, but, look at the city now. And Cebu needs how many years more? Maybe 200 more? Sobrang nakakahiya. Mga batugan siguro. O kaya mga slaves at utusan lang sa mga Osmena at sa mga insik.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:42 am
hay naku, andito na naman si cj duterte using a different nick, ibinalik mo na naman yang stupid analyzation mo regarding the 80 and 400 YO, please read reply no.18 para hindi ka magmukhang masyadong TANG@, and ibabalik ko rin yung tanong sa yo, ibig mo bang sabihin 1920’s/30’s pa lang pala nagkaron ng tao sa davao?
masyado nang nagiging obvious yung pagkaka insecure mo sa cebu eh, dont compare the two cities, youre like comparing timbuktu(davao) to LA(cebu)? so please enough of your rhetorics.
sa ganyang mentality, no wonder mas nauuna na ngayon ang cagayan de oro in some aspects like investment volume.
and i was kinda surprised to know that isa lang pala ang major landbased provider sa davao…. geesh, what a shame
September 22nd, 2007 at 8:56 am
comparing cebu to Los Angeles??! NO man! NO!! You just possibly can NOT!! That’s an insult!
By the way, CJ and Budoy are right, Davao was just a small fishing village by the turn of the 20th century. That area was a dense forest. Yes the charter date was 1937 or 38 if my memory serves me right, but yeah, prior to that, Davao was nothing. it was the gold rush of the 50s which started davao’s population growth.
to think about it, looking at budoy’s comments again…what DID Cebu do in all those 400 years? I mean, it should at least look like Manila now, but it’s not. How come??
September 24th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
hahahaha, i cant believe you took it literally! OMG im ROFL, its a figure of comparison baby, hahahaha
and cebu trying to look like manila? for goodness sake, manila is everything cebu doesnt want to be! have you been to manila or are you still stucked in your provincial mindsetting that everything in manila is nice? but then again, if davao wants to feel and look like manila, go on, good luck!
and c’mon, naglolokohan ba tayo dito? nobody would buy that fairy tale na davao is nothing before 1937! c’mon! ganun na ba katang@ ang tingin mo sa ibang pilipino at madali mong maloloko?
ibang iba talaga ang mindesetting ng some davao people, no wonder davao until today is still licking cebu’s @SS! and its no wonder why CDO is getting a bigger pie in mindanao’s investment volume which used to be dominated only by davao. davao is not anymore mindanao’s main drawer for investment… maybe it has something to do with your attitude…
PS:
oh i heard a big time US Based call center backed off from investing in davao, im talking of course about sutherland….
September 24th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Zyntax, definitely, you are from the call center industry. Jologs mo talaga.
First of all, it’s “figure of speech” or “figuratively speaking” or “matephorically speaking” NOT figure of comparison, Jesus H. Christ. Bobo mo talaga.
Second, to know what Davao was like, its history, visit a library, and research! Bobo mo pa rin.
Third, are you sure CDO is getting a bigger pie? Have you checked with BOI or DTI or NEDA? Taga call center ka nga. Bobo!
Fourth, I’m in Manila right now working for one of the largest investment banks in the world. Do you know what an investment bank is? Pang call center ka lang. Ang baba ng tingin namin sa inyo mga taga-call center. Di kasi kelangan college graduate para maka-pasok sa call center. And the way you call center agents dress - you look like pimps.
And excuse me, I’m not from Davao. But I’ve been to Davao for our clients. Even to Cebu. One thing I noticed between my clients from Cebu and Davao, most of my clients from Davao are native pinoys, unlike in Cebu, puro chinese. Bobo kasi ng mga natives sa Cebu. Budoy is right ga utusan lang kayo ng mga insik. That’s why hanggang call center lang trabaho niyo.
Think about it really hard. Call Center Job = Dead End Job! Bobo! Kasi eh! Dapat nag aral ka ng mabuti nung college. Or dapat naka afford parents mo to send you at least to Ateneo or DLSU! Hanggang USC ka lang, Talamban or Main, no difference, kasi jologs school niyo. Cheap tuition fee, cheap education! Bobo!
September 24th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
…and what’s really funny…is you guys call toyo (soy sauce), PATIS!! hahahaha!! mga bobo!!
And again, what DID you guys do in all those 400 years??
September 25th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
labasan ang ugat mo ineng!!!
ahahaha, lumabas ang kalibre ng pagkatao mo! those words coming from a worker of a “worldwide investment bank” hindi ka na siguro happy sa work mo kaya youre full of anger.
dami mong claims, its not showing in your attitude naman.
youre beginning to look silly, sana hindi ka na lang nagreply, i pity you…
September 25th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
you try to claim yourself as a banker… but i doubt it, bakit hindi mo alam na mas malaki ngayon ang investment volume ng northern mindanao (where cdo is the capital) than southern mindanao (davao regions)hey, you need to review your portfolio’s and do some research, kawawa naman ang company mo to have some personel na katulad mong walanag ka alam alam sa takbo ng regional and local economies.
September 25th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
kahit ano pang argument mo dito…. the news article says “WHY CALL CENTERS ARE NOT…. (read; NOT) INVESTING IN DAVAO?”
pati nga call centers ayaw sa inyo, ano pa kaya yung iba? focus on your strengths na lang…. agriculture at saging… banana’s, davao city is one big banana republic naman talaga eh
September 25th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Jologs. Call center agent. Dead end job. Night shift (ungodly hours). Unintelligent work. What’s your basic pay 10 thou? 14? plush 20% night premium? hahaha. So cheap.
…hey, you used the word “portfolio”. Hanep ah! Did you do some research. Did your head hurt? It must’ve been hard work for you?
#31
September 26th, 2007 at 11:34 am
la kwenta comment mo, tulungan mo na lang ang davao magkaron ng big investments, para you dont look like a crying baby asking for milk…
September 26th, 2007 at 11:46 am
para dun sa mga naniniwala sa fairy tale na 1930’s pa lang nag umpisa magkaron ng settlement sa davao, read your history po, napaka sarap kasing isipin na you have progressed so much in such a short span of time tapos your timeline begin during the charter day? mga ulol! read your history…. eto link, dahil alam kong mga tamad kayo mag hanap ng sources.
http://www.davaocity.gov.ph/about/history.htm
September 26th, 2007 at 11:48 am
“When the Spaniards came in 1848, they saw a community of Bagobos, Mandayas, B’laan, Mansakas, Manobos, Atas, Tagacaolos, Guiangan and the Moros”
before 1948 may settlement na, kaya tigilan nyo na yang yabang nyo na 1930’s lang kayo nagkatao, its soooooooo passe! try harder po…
September 27th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Ok ok. You win on that part(giggles - talagang nagresearch ito)
BUT STILL: Davao = 1848 and Cebu = 1521!! That’s still more than 220 years of Cebu’s lead time.
Now. Zyntax. I did a little research of my own. Look at this site in hyperlink below. It is a census (do you know what census is?) of Philippine provinces circa 1903.
NOTE:
Cebu - Total: 653,727 Civilized: 653,727
Davao - Total: 65,496 Civilized: 20,224
If you’re really smart (as you think you are), note the BIG difference you idiot. Even Manila at that time was only, note, ONLY 219,928. Cebu WAS the socio-economic nerve center of the Philippines back then, you stupid prick!
So ask yourself, what happened? Why was your city left behind?? (Sit back, close your eyes, AND honestly ask yourself, what happened??) Cebu was the cosmopolitan center of the Philippines. Now it’s only a secondary city.
That’s what you get for not researching TOO hard!! Sayang napabilib mo na sana ako.
That’s what you get for not doing well in school! (Sigh!) If only your parents could afford to send you (again) to the best AND expensive schools. Talamban, Main, UV, USJ-R or Xavier, o kung saang lungga ka nanggaling…stay there.
And by the way, I looked at the site you gave, of the history of Davao, you left out the part where it says the population of Davao in 1890 was only 30,000. Sayang ka. Pang call center ka lang talaga! Mag-e-expose ka lang, may itatago ka pa! Tsk tsk, sayang!
You know what, the Cebuano community in L.A. is just like you. Mayayabang na wala namang ikabuga. That’s why most of the other ethnic groups from the Phils don’t like you people.
AND STOP CALLING TOYO (SOY SAUCE) PATIS!! STUPID!!
September 27th, 2007 at 11:35 am
http://books.google.com/books?id=0QMZ2_EVHmkC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=cebu+1890+population&source=web&ots=gr2BdgxTsU&sig=zux4woBGRsFUzO9Z2ubiWoHqEu4
September 27th, 2007 at 11:51 am
…I just couldn’t help but comment again.
Talagang sayang! Nag-pakitang gilas ka sa research mo, pero palyado ka pa rin.
Talagang sayang!
Kung di ka lang pumalya, I could have invited you as part of our research team. Pero….(sigh) sayang.
C’mon, get out of that call center company you’re working for. It causes your brain to adle and soften. Go to a real job. A job where you don’t have to sleep during the day. A job where you have normal (human) hours. A job where you do real work in the real world. Nakakaawa naman kayo.
Anyway, if you want to find out who I am, do some heuristics. How I type, how I choose my words, how I arrange my sentences, grammar and context. Just do some heuristics and you’ll find my site. If you do, I’ll offer you a job. A good paying, real job. That’s a promise!
I’ll see how smart you are. And…you got to first base by finding out I’m a lady. (You said “ineng”). That’s the first clue.
Good luck!
September 28th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Chada, saang kumpanya ka nagtatrabaho?
September 28th, 2007 at 9:29 am
sa philamlife tower ka ba ngtatrabaho?
September 28th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I don’t work for Philamlife but my office is in the building.
Why?
September 28th, 2007 at 11:36 am
mukang nakita na kta!
ikaw yng taga 31 floor no??
chinita, boycut na hair???
September 29th, 2007 at 10:32 am
no reply. ikaw nga siguro yung taga 31 floor na laging ngmamdali sa elevator at lagng may kausap sa celfon. isa lang ang alam kong malaking ‘investment bank’ sa philam. sayang may itsura ka pa naman sna, ang taray mo pala. pero mukhang tibo ka kasi kya ka siguro ganyan. kung ikaw man yan. crush ka pa naman namn d2 sa 11 floor sa msys kami.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Why Call Centers are not investing?
Just refer to Chada’s comments regarding call center agents. If this girl’s view regarding how lowly call center agents are, is the same with other Davaoenos, then please don’t expect those kind investors to come in. Who would invest in a call center business in a place where the people living in it despises such a decent job.
October 1st, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Wow you guys, and gals, are not exactly getting me excited about Davao. I am an American who will be opening up a small call center. I was seriously hoping I could do it in Davao, but why beat a dead horse as they say. Looking for some hope, and a reason for Davao.
October 1st, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Cebu fourth in list of top emerging BPO locations–survey
BANGALORE, India–Cebu in the Philippines has come in fourth in a list of 15 emerging outsourcing destinations for global companies, an industry report said Sunday.
A study by industry publication Global Services and investment advisory firm Tholons put the Indian cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune at the top of a list of 15 destination.
Kolkata at number five and Chandigarh at number nine were the other two Indian locations on the list, which contained three Chinese and two Vietnamese cities as well.
The three hot cities for outsourcing from China were Shanghai at number eight, Beijing at 10 and Shenzhen at 13. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were put at number six and number 12.
The Sri Lankan capital of Colombo at seven, Cairo at 11, Buenos Aires at 14 and Sao Paulo at 15, the study’s sponsors said in a statement released in Bangalore.
The list is based on criteria such as scale and quality of workforce, financial infrastructure, risk environment and quality of life.
>>>>>EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT, DAVAO!
October 1st, 2007 at 6:24 pm
in an older study, davao was included in the most promising bpo sites, but in the more recent study posted above, cebu is the only philippine city along with manila that are included in the most promising bpo sites…. davao’s attractiveness went pppppfffftttt.
heres an article
Rising business costs in Manila put off firms
By Jessica B. Natad
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
CEBU is the next best potential site in the county for offshore offices of information technology (IT) and business process organizations (BPOs), an international research agency said.
This is so, as the increasing costs of operation and competitive pressures on the labor supply in Metro Manila continue to diminish the city’s attractiveness, according to the Offshore Insights Market Report series conducted last year by neoIT, an international research center.
Davao and Clark follow Cebu as emerging attractive outsourcing locations in the Philippines, with the cities of Baguio, Bacolod, Iloilo, Dumaguete and Cagayan de Oro on their heels.
Opportunities
As of 2005, Cebu is host to 14 call centers, while Davao and Clark have three and five call center companies, respectively. Some 80 call centers are operating in Metro Manila.
“(But) the increasing cost of doing business in Metro Manila has opened up opportunities for the less costly regions to attract business. For Metro Manila, sustaining a competitive advantage among other cities of excellence around the world—and among those emerging destinations in the Philippines—requires a shift in focus and policy-making based on long-term vision.”
According to the neoIT paper, Cebu surpassed the other seven cities in two of the four key factors—people, infrastructure, financial and catalyst—considered to have an impact on the competitiveness of a city to attract IT and BPO companies.
While Davao and Cebu are comparable in population size, Cebu ranks higher on the size of labor pool, a sub-factor of the people factor. This is due to the larger number of educational institutions, therefore a larger number of graduates entering the labor pool, in Cebu than in Davao.
Catalyst
With regard to the catalyst factor, which include government support and initiatives, the desire and effort of the Cebu local government to catalyze and create an environment for the industry to flourish, is more tangible as manifested in the creation of five special economic zones than the local governments of Davao and Clark, which has one ecozone each.
The report cited two multinational companies—American International Group (AIG) and SPI Technologies—which have established offshore back-end processing offices in Manila, to have expanded operations in Cebu.
AIG, a US-based insurance and financial services organization, has located its second center in Cebu. Its center in the Philippines provides back-end processes such as data entry, policy administration, claims, disbursement and premium processing and customer service to AIG worldwide.
SPI Technologies, on the other hand, builds a production facility in Cebu to increase its global operations capacity.
This move aims to accommodate up to 1,200 agents who will focus on providing state-of-the-art, medical transcription and information management services to hospitals, multi-specialty clinics, health management organizations, insurance companies and health information in the US.
“Organizations evaluating the Philippines as a sourcing destination now have more than a single city to consider. Metro Manila might be the established hotspot now, but the country is incubating cities like Cebu, Davao and Clark—cities that have the potential to become mature centers of excellence.
Whether their strengths lay in voice-based call centers, financial and accounting business process or animal services, these cities have inherent capabilities that will enable them to service offshore outsourcing needs,” according to the report.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2006/10/30/bus/rising.business.costs.in.manila.put.off.firms.html
October 4th, 2007 at 6:06 am
Basta ito lang masasabi ko about people who work in call centers:
1)Dead end job
2)Not a real job
3)It’s a slave/factory work disguised in airconditioned offices
4)The so-called “frequent coaching system” or “performance management cycle” or whatever the hell you call it in call centers, is a disguised form of slave-driving or corporate whipping to get call center slaves to work harder. Supervisors will frequently nag you.
5)Job hoppers who can’t hold down a job for the long term
October 4th, 2007 at 6:07 am
October 4th, 2007 at 6:07 am
most call center people are unhappy with their work and dream of someday working in a regular, daytime and REAL job.
6)Low-skilled, repetitive, low value, rules-based, low complexity work but very high stress work. As I said, slaves working in airconditioned slave centers.
Got get real jobs you morons!
October 5th, 2007 at 10:26 am
hahaha, crying out loud dahil hindi equipped ang city nya. FYI ICT and BPO is not the single bread and butter of cebu, its doing good in tourism and exports and of course ICT and BPO. at ano ba alam mo sa ICT and BPO? call center lang? geee, ang bobo mo pala.
buti sa cebu everything is doing well, compare natin ang cebu and davao in tourism, exports and ICT/BPO, davao would surely pale in comparison. at least sa cebu all aspects of investments are welcome and are doing good.
October 6th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
no wonder… Cebu fourth in list of top emerging BPO locations… the only philippine city aside from manila.
davao? missing in action… not even in the top 15.
October 14th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Matilda,
Go get a real job! Don’t you get tired speaking into that headset for 8 hours everyday? With no real intellect being used? With your supervisor constantly bugging you? Waking up when Mike Enriquez is on tv for “24″ News on GMA, and getting to sleep when Eat Bulaga is playing on TV.
C’mon, get real. You’re just slaves. Just take a look at your work. You’re forced to come in on time everyday and get reprimanded if you come in 5 minutes late and documented. You ask permission from a workforce manager to take a leak. You told when to take a break, when to take lunch, the number of minutes you are on call are counted. The number of minutes it takes you to log the call after you hang up is counted. Just look at your really carefully. And from an outside perspective. It’s just plain and simple slave work. Slaves in air-conditioned offices.
No matter what you call it, it’s still slave work.
Nakakaawa kayo. No matter how you pretend that your jobs are special. It’s still at the lower end of the spectrum.
Get a real job.
October 18th, 2007 at 1:55 am
^^^ at least may trabaho sa cebu, eh sa davao? wala! kawawang mga davaoeño, nagpupunta pa ng manila and cebu para lang magpaka “slave” tapos yung taxes sa manila and cebu pa napupunta. nyahahaha.
October 28th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Matilda,
I can easily get a director or VP job at any call center anywhere in the country if I wanted to. But I have pride and dignity. I have SELF-RESPECT. And I get more compensation from where I work than your directors or VPs. I MEET face to face with my clients in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, YES, even in Cebu. If you want to know where I work, just scroll up.
How much are you paid call center slave? 10 thousand? 14? 18? Pathetic.
Have some self-respect, get a real job. If you just graduated from a good and expensive school, received honors, you wouldn’t have to demean yourself by working in a ’slave center’ and not having a life by working the same hours as prostitutes.
Good luck!
November 13th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
there is too much poverty in davao i tell you! at least sa cebu wala pang nagpapakamatay na 12 year old girl dahil sa hirap at gutom, hindi kasi ganun ka active yung business sector kaya yan, nagkakandahirap ang citizen ng city, such a pity!
November 20th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
grabe ang mga comments dito whe!!!striking ha….anyway nagiging personalan na ito, i just wanna put a comment to what chada had written ‘hindi lahat ng mga private schools ay ganun ka effective…most of the private schools geeks are just pretenders…some of them are even engaged in flesh selling just to sustain studies’ anyway,,,maganda naman ang magcompare at least my poin of comparison tau for us to excel…i am in call center business pls wag mu namang gawing cheap ang trabaho namin…kahit malaki pa mga sahud ninyo ok lang at least my mga taong nagkakaroon ng trabaho at hindi palaboy…
December 2nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
alam mo naniniwala ako na factory work agn trabaho sa call center. binihisan lng ng mganda, nilagyan ng aircon…pero kung tutuusin, factory work pa rin siya. isipin mo kada 10 minutes binabantayan ang trabaho mo. araw araw inaudit ng quality ang calls mo. kongting mali, sitahin ka agad. konting late, coaching form kaagad. inooras lahat ng gawain mo, pati pagCR oras. before ako ngtrabaho sa call center, nagtrabaho ako sa isang regular day job, hindi kami tinatrato ng ganyan. hinahayaan ka gawin ang trabaho mo ng maayos, kng nagkakamali ka man, tuturuan ka, pero tinatrato ka na parang tao, hindi tulad sa call center, ang trato sa atin mga agents parang mga bata o mga taga pabrika. walang respeto mga supervisor, akala mo naman napakagaling. mga supervisor ko noon sa ibang trabaho talagang magaling magtrato ng mga tao.
December 6th, 2007 at 12:45 am
lahat tayo mababaho ang t@e,ok?kahit ano pa trabaho nu parepareho lahat!kahit pa sabihin nating pinakamayaman pa tayo sa buong mundo mabaho pa rin t@e mo!ang kinakain mo kahit sa call center o sa iba mo pa nakukuha..magagiging t@e pa rin,ok?!!
January 12th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Davaeno’s are so whiny about their job, better to have jobs than nothing.
Hello, mga davaotards bakit nagrereklamo pa kayo kung mapupunta ang pera nyo sa Cebu, you think as Cebu is not part of this country.
January 13th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
ayoko sa cebu…mabaho, madumi at grabe ang squatters area! parang sa maynila!
sa maynila naman, ang mga taga squatters area puro mga cebuano!
January 15th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
reading the comments above, its getting obvious why davao lags behind cebu. among manila cebu and davao, parang davao na ata ang pinaka matamlay when it comes to development… at may K pa silang manlait sa cebu, when in fact theyre just eating cebu’s dust!
January 29th, 2008 at 10:51 am
who do you think you are cebuanos?? you even sound so BISAYA when you speak english or even tagalog.. hahaha.. how pity!! so obvious ang accent!! i got to visit the city minsan and they look at poeple who speak tagalog/english excellently like as if they were aliens.. galit sa mga effortless mag-salita ng both english and tagalog language.. i used to live in cebu and it’s not nice to see trash everywhere and not to mention the malodorous smell.. eeeeeeeeeeeeeew..
-proud to be davaoeño..
February 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Cebu is over 400 years old already. pero bakit parang wala masyadong nangyari sa 400 years? mabagal ang asenso…
February 4th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
exactly!!
February 6th, 2008 at 1:47 am
hai nako. you people are so walang magawa. lols. work nalang kayo kung saan ninyo gusto para masaya! hehe. mag olay total effects para iwas wrinkles. ano bah.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:25 am
“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” -Booker T. Washington
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.” - Booker T. Washington
February 14th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Davaoeños,
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. will be having a Job Fair this February 22 to 25 at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City.
JPMorgan Chase is one of the largest financial institutions in the world with over $1.6 trillion in assets with over 170,000 employees in over 50 countries. It has six main lines of businesses:
Credit Card Services
Retail Financial Services
Commercial Banking
Asset Management
Treasuries and Securities Services
Investment Banking
For more information, please visit http://www.jpmorganchase.com or at our career site at careers.jpmorganchase.com.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
We still have a lot of things to do. For the past few months, I have read alot of news and blind items about particular call centers / BPOs that would locate (daw) in Davao…Till now? wala pa rin kahit isa!
Why? Kc kulang tayo sa pagpromote ng Davao not only as an IT Hub but as an IT commodity as well……Cebu, Manila, and Cagayan de Oro are so successfull in selling their cities as an IT hub. Tayo? puro dada lang!
Also, nakakalungkot…i met a friend whose task is to search for future sites for their expansions. He said that their company is keen on having a business in Cagayan De Oro..Kc for them, it looks like na mas progressive and booming daw ang CDO than Davao! Perception counts! CDO is a winner when it comes to promoting their cities..Tayo? kawawa! this is so evident when u check other exhibits na kasali ang davao..kulelat tayo!
April 28th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Hi Xygen,
I recently read the BPA/P’s (that’s the outsourcing association) Philippines O&O or Outsourcing and Offshoring report. They were ranking all major cities in terms of viability for setting up O&O offices. One parameter (or metric if you will) is called ‘utilization’. Due to the smaller population in Cagayan de Oro and the existence of about 3 major call centers and numerous smaller ones, the city is already considered “near-fully-utilizied”. Davao on the other hand is underutilized because of the relative large working population but the present existence of only 2 major O&O companies (Link2Support and G-Com).
Presently Western Wats, Sutherland and a couple of other major O&O companies are in their implementation stages in opening their offices in Davao. Ayala Corp is in partnership with Anflo in Davao to build a shopping and entertainment center and an office suited for BPOs.
Now, many major O&O companies are looking at Davao since they’ve already “fully utilized” most major cities in the Philippines, except for this one. Two years from now, this article is going to be passe.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Sitel/Clientlogic, Callbox, Sutherland,Link2Support, WesternWatsare already operating in Davao
July 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
i think the reason behind Davao’s BPO investments is really the security. I mean Davao is near Cotabato and other places in Central Minadanao which is notoriously infested with kidnappers.
If you compare crimes of Davao, Cebu and Manila. I would say Davao is safest. But if you would compare a petty crime to kidnapping–that would be a different story.
New York has alot of petty crime than that of Manila but would you think kidnapping is present?I dont think so. I think thats the problem of us here in Mindanao. The security problem from kidnapping and abductions.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
even as for me, i live in Iligan and we can say security is the major factor of our city not being able to develop into what CDO and Davao is currently having. We are near Lanao which is as notorious as that of the Cotabato provinces in Central Mindanao. We are even faring bad against Gen San, Iloilo or Bacolod for that matter.
For now, I can say Cebu and CDO by far has gotten most of the BPO investments in the Vis/Min area.
Cebu is fast becoming the major center for BPOs in the country and even overtaking that of Manila. Its because they have the necessary infrastructure, investor confidence, security, commercial viability, tourism ability whether it be local or foreign, and its strategic location.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
duh..davao has plenty of moslem population so people couldnt stop thinking that it isn’t safe to invest their money to that city as we all know the christian-moslem conflict.. this is 1 of the problems we are suffering today more particularly in mindanao area.