SC Johnson to invest in RP's BPO industry

Household consumer products manufacturing giant SC Johnson will invest in a business process outsourcing (BPO) facility in the country, the Board of Investments (BOI) announced yesterday.

In an interview at the BOI head office, BOI Director Celeste Ilagan said SC Johnson will put up a 200 people captive service facility in Makati possibly near its existing office in Rockwell.

“We are very optimistic on the prospects of the BPO industry. The Philippines is a good location,” Ilagan noted.

Initially, Ilagan said the center will provide back office services like human resources and accounting.

“Usually that’s how companies start here in the Philippines. Some eventually move into other support services,” she added.

Ilagan said she is not certain when the BPO facility will start operating. “They already hired 50 of the 200 people. They can start soon,” she said.

Ilagan said the reason why the Philippines got the account was because of the reliable talent base in the Philippines .

“They (SC Johnson) have been here for a long time. This is the reason why we got the project and why they located here,” she explained.

SC Johnson makes Johnson wax, Glade, Mr. Muscle and other household consumer products.

Ilagan said they are courting several US based companies to locate their back operations here. “We expect the industry to grow significantly within the year.”

For its part, the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) said three more BPOs are expected to come in. The industry however refused to disclosed the firms.

BPAP said the BPO needs the support of the government especially in the promotion of the country as a good offshoring destination.

“This year will be a busy year for us in terms of attracting new investors,” BPAP President Oscar Sanez said in an interview.

Sanez said they are intensifying their efforts to get more BPO centers to locate in the Philippines as they aim to grow the industry. The 2010 BPO roadmap targets to create one million jobs for the industry by 2010.

However, Sanez said the BPAP cannot do it alone. “We need the support of the government especially for our marketing missions,” Sanez noted.

For this year, the BPAP’s target revenue is $7 billion. Last year, the industry earned $5 billion. By 2010, the industry expects to earn $12 billion.