MANILA, Philippines -- Call center operator Teletech will open two more facilities in San Fernando and Sta. Rosa within the first half of the year.

The company has started recruiting agents for its Pampanga operations, county manager Maulik Parekh said in a phone interview.

Teletech?s facility will be located inside the SM mall San Fernando and is scheduled to open in April. The company is targeting to recruit 1,700 workers.

Parekh said the establishment of the San Fernando site is in line with Teletech?s strategy of setting up operations in places that do not yet have BPO (business process outsourcing) investors.

?We chose San Fernando because Clark already has locators,? he said. ?Plus we saw the worker supply is good and could come from nearby provinces like Bulacan and Olongapo aside from Pampanga itself.?

Teletech?s facility in Sta. Rosa will be similarly located inside Robinson?s mall and is scheduled to open in June. The smaller site targets 1,000 workers.

?It?s a multi-million dollar investment for us,? Parekh said when asked how much investment Teletech is pouring into these two new sites.

Teletech now employs more than 15,000 workers in 10 sites nationwide.