With report coming out that the Business Process Outsourcing industry is looking at a 200 percent growth this year, it seems that more and more contact centers are finally getting out of the comforts of Metro manila and begins to spread its wings towards the provinces. And why not? Call centers in the provinces are saving a lot from wages. Provincial call center employees are receiving provincial rates, comparing it with the wages of agents here in manila, it is worlds apart.  

And come to think of it. People from the provinces (like myself) move to manila for employment. There is a lot of work in the provinces if you’re not choosey. But you have to settle for a lower pay. Government offices are out of the question. If you don’t know anyone from that sector, you’re not going anywhere. The small players in the private sector on the other hand are not so generous when it comes to wages, who could blame them? They too have to make both ends meet. So if you are looking for a job that pays decently. Go to manila, and day jobs that pays well are often taken by people who graduated from top universities in the metro, so most of the time, we apply in a call center where the hiring (sometimes) never stops and offers a pretty decent pay. If call centers continue to expand to the provinces, then we are looking toward better days. There are a lot of qualified people in the provinces for this job; some just can’t come because of different factors. Some just won’t leave the province because of their parents, some have difficulties in the fast paced life of the metro, some lacks the financial means to move here and some just don’t have anywhere to stay here in manila. But the fact remains, a lot of them are qualified to man a phone. And they will, if only the circumstances are favorable.

In my recent trip to Baguio, I saw that SITEL and AEGIS People Support centers are teeming with energy, a sign that the contact center industry in Baguio is alive. Iligan it seems is already working on welcoming a contact center into their fold.  According to report from www.abs-cbnnews.com, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) and HP Outsourcing Philippines recently signed a memorandum of agreement allowing the BPO firm to put up its office there. The report reads:

HP Outsourcing Philippines, a subsidiary of the Hubport Group, recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), a university known for its information technology and engineering programs, allowing the BPO firm to put up its office there.

The 24-hour facility will serve two functions: as a remote office for Hubport’s commercial operations, and as a virtual computer laboratory for the on-the-job training of MSU-IIT students on web design, animation, transcription services, and other skills. Students who are part of the program have higher chances of employment at Hubport.

Cebu on the other hand has been home to several contact centers for several years now, and it seems that more and more BPO companies are gravitating towards the queen city still. The Bicol region is also proving to be a fertile ground for the BPO industry, slowly call centers are beginning to map out plans to take advantage of the vast workforce coming from cities like Legaspi and Naga and also from nearby towns and cities.

There are other towns and cities that have untapped resources of manpower, The north is pretty untapped. the Ilocos region is very promising. The City of Laoag offers is a possibility.  Tuguegarao City also have a great potential, for instance, It has the infrastructure and technology to support a modern call center, St. Paul University Philippines once flirted with running a call center there but it broke down. Not because of manpower, Tuguegarao have vast resources of graduates and undergraduates from Universities and colleges that could handle the job, not because of the technology, Technology is available to the city, major telephone companies have offices there, Not because of the management, there are a lot of capable managers in the city, It is because of the campaign itself. If you are selling old computers to households in the US, the probability of success is quite slim.

 The branching of Contact centers in the provinces would help the country side grow and with it, the people. This could also help with the population problem in the metro. The over crowding might just ease up when young people don’t have to flock to the metro for employment. When companies begin to look towards the provinces in a different light, there is so much to look forward to, so much to hope for.