Cities And Towns
Davao City call centers not desperate, says exec
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Oct 13, 2008 - 4:58:53 AM

DAVAO CITY, Oct. 14 (PNA) -- Business Process Outsourcing executives have exempted Davao City call centers from undergoing the so-called “desperation syndrome”.

Many call centers in Manila and Cebu City as reflected in print advertisements, are offering numerous incentives, including a four-week vacation leave in a year, huge signing bonus and big hiring rates to call center agents out of desperation to keep them from quitting their jobs.

The Call Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) has reported that the Philippines suffered a 60 to 80 percent turnover rate, the highest turnover among call centers worldwide.

CCAP said the rate was more than the normal turnover rate of 30 to 40 percent.

But Cyber City chief Nannete Del Mundo said call centers in Davao City were not offering extraordinary incentives since the attrition rate of call agents was not fast.

She said the salary rate of call center agents in the city ranging from P8,000 to P14,000 monthly and more was sufficient to compensate their labor.

She also said she was not aware of the CCAP report.

But she opined if there was such a report, maybe the call centers being surveyed were those from congested cities such as Manila and Cebu where there were huge increases in the number of call centers.

“Davao call centers are not desperate,” 611 Call Center of the JIB Career Center executive Arlene Ozoa for her part said, when asked to react on the issue.

She said it was the job of the human resource department of a call center to establish measures how to keep their agents from leaving their positions for other jobs due to many reasons such as boredom, pressure and stress due to lack of sleep.

Most call agents were on graveyard shift that starts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., she said.

Ozoa said some call centers were providing relaxation packages to call agents during off hours such as spa or karaoke singing session to refresh themselves from hours of stressful work.

She confirmed that most call agents had to adjust their body cycle to the nature of their job where they had to stay until dawn the following day in those narrow computer cubicles.