Pasig City bids to become call center capital

Pasig City is bidding to become the call center capital of the country.

Only recently, the John E. Kennedy Center Foundation-Philippines (JFKCFP) agreed to train students of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig (PLP) on the basics of telemarketing, customer service and other communication skills.

Pasig City Councilor Bobby Eusebio said the memorandum of agreement between the PLP and the JFKCFP would give students better chances to land jobs in one of the local business outsourcing operations in the city.

Pasig has become a favored location of business outsourcing companies such as call centers because of its ideal geographical location at the center of Metro Manila. It is also highly accessible to public transport, has a business-friendly environment and equipped with modern technological infrastructure such as fiber optic lines.

At least 12 call centers are presently operating in the Ortigas-Barangay San Antonio area and six more are currently applying for business permits at the city hall.

Records of the City Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) show that Pasig-based call centers employ a total of 6,718 employees, with an average starting salary of P15,000 a month.

Even Pasig’s property sector has benefited from the IT boom, with call centers employing a total floor area of 31,483 square meters of prime office space.

Among the large-scale call center locators in Pasig are Amber Gris Solutions Phils. Inc., which employs 2,969 workers, Sykes Asia Inc., with 1,200 employees and Client Logic Philippines Inc., with 938.

The call center industry in Pasig has also created a burgeoning market for ancillary business such as convenience stores and food joints operating on a 24-hour basis to service the needs of call center employees.

Mayor Vicente Eusebio has designated his son, Councilor Eusebio, as the account officer of Pasig City‘s IT project.