Local BPO sets up QC office

MANILA, Philippines - Local business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Pointwest Technologies, Corp. has opened a new site at the Ayala Techno Park in the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, as the company tries to lure more US clients who outsource more services to cut costs. The company Thursday opened its P70 million, 2,600-square meter site, its second in the country. The office will have 480 seats. In a statement, Pointwest President Christina G. Coronel noted that due to the US-led global slowdown, American companies "now turn to outsourcing as a temporary panacea in meeting their corporate objectives." "We are primed for this expected demand," she added. Pointwest is the only information technology-based business process outsourcing company that is 100% Filipino-owned. It has a 475 seats at its other site in Makati. Around half or 250 of those seats will be transferred to the Quezon City site, which is expected to grow to 500 seats by yearend. The excess space in both sites will provide the room for growth for the company next year, said Renato B. Quizon, Pointwest executive director for business development. "We had run out of office space in Makati and had difficulty finding contiguous space that will be apt for the two-year expansion," Ms. Coronel said. The Quezon City site gives Pointwest Technologies greater access to talent. In an interview, Ms. Coronel said the company would hire primarily IT graduates for software programming jobs. "We have strict recruitment standards," she said. She said the company is seeking to increase revenues by around a third by yearend from a year earlier to around $14.5 million. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld