US firm expands in Cebu, plans to hire 1,500 workers

Cebu’s growing business process outsourcing industry continues to attract more foreign companies and generate more jobs.

Alorica, a US-based outsourcing company to expand in Cebu, aims to hire at least 1,500 people to man its newly opened delivery center here.

Alorica officials led by its chief executive officer and founder Andy Lee said they see Cebu as a place to further grow their business along with their five centers in Luzon —  two in Makati and one each in Batangas, Pasig City  and Quezon City.

“We see Cebu as our newest opportunity in partnership with our client, team and the community. There is an amazing number of qualified people in the community and I can’t imagine that we can’t be successful here,” said Lee.

Lee said that they plan to end the year with close to 5,000 people in the country growing mostly in Cebu with at least 1,500 employees hired that they intend to grow to as much as 6,000 people as soon as possible.

Alorica is a  US-based customer management outsourcing solutions company, with an employee base of 3,000 in the country and 20,000 in all its 40 locations. It generates an annual revenue of $600 million.

Lee said with the latest expansion in the country, the firm officials believed that the “Anti-Outsourcing bill” in the US wouldn’t prosper. The bill would discourage outsourcing companies from employing workers outside the US.

Amit Shankardass, Alorica chief marketing manager, described the world as flat and that outsourcing would be the way for companies to get the best services in the world.

“We are very bullish in the Philippines. This legislation that is pending, we’re not really sure about it. We think that outsourcing will still grow and America is one of the biggest market for outsourcing,” said Shankardass.

James Sherin, Alorica chief operating officer and country manager, cited the openness of most local government units in Cebu as a positive factor in the firm’s expansion.

Sherin said Alorica officials admired the openness of most of the local governments worked with here. He said the firm would enjoy working with officials in Cebu as well as those in the academe to ensure sustaining the supply of manpower to fuel the firm’s target growth.

“When we decide to invest in a place, we usually look at considerations such as a good business environment with a supportive local government, reliable infrastructure such as the telecommunications, and an organized and active private sector which Cebu has. Now we want to be more involved and we want to get to meet with the academe and perhaps work on plans and even develop curriculum,” said Lee.

For starters, Alorica will be hiring voice and text support agents for their Cebu office located at the Skyrise 1 Building within Asiatown IT Park.

“We just started with our first wave of about 100 new hires which we will now start training,” said Sherin.