Teleperformance to open 1,200-seat facility

BY MARIAN GRACE S. RAMOS/BUSINESSWORLD TELEPERFORMANCE, a leading provider of outsourced contact center services, is opening a 1,200 production seat facility early next year, a company official said. In an interview the other day, Teleperformance Philippines Managing Director David Rizzo told BusinessWorld that the company would be expanding to a 7,000-square meter site in Sucat Road, Parañaque City, which used to be a semiconductor plant. "The Sucat facility is in the middle of construction," Mr. Rizzo said, adding that it would be finished by mid-January, when the company starts training people. The facility, he said, would start operating in February. Mr. Rizzo said the US-based call center would be hiring close to 2,000 employees to fully operate the new facility. Hiring already started in the recently opened EDSA IT Center 2 in Mandaluyong, and is expected to get a boost when the Sucat recruiting facility is opened in Dec. 1. Teleperformance expects to complement the employee requirements of the Sucat site within the first year of its operation. Mr. Rizzo said Teleperformance spent "several million dollars" for the facility but added that it was cheaper than the 16,000-square meter Mandaluyong site. Mr. Rizzo said apart from the little competition in Sucat, having a center there gives the company access to more labor. "It provides an opportunity for the people in that area to work in a call center much closer to home," he said. In terms of real estate affordability, Mr. Rizzo said leasing a facility in Sucat is cheaper compared with leasing in the central business district, but still not as cheap as the provincial rate. Mr. Rizzo said the Sucat facility would provide voice-oriented services as 98% of the firm’s business in the country is in voice platform. When it starts operation, Sucat is expected to contribute about 20% of the total revenues of the Teleperformance in the Philippines. Among the clients to be served by the new facility are Internet service providers, a wireless company and an international television and appliance manufacturer. Last month, Dominic Dato, chief executive of Teleperformance US said the company would open two facilities within the next two years, increasing Teleperformance’s work force to 10,000 people from 7,500 people. Mr. Rizzo said the plan is on track, saying: "We have decided where our next location would be and we’ll disclose that early in 2008."