Outsourcing Industry Offers Career Opportunities for Laid-Off Employees

Retraining helps facilitate a successful career shift—ExcelAsia

(Manila, Philippines, February 9, 2009) – Despite increased company retrenchments, the outsourcing sector remains strong and can potentially help laid-off workers find new employment opportunities despite the global economic crisis. ExcelAsia President Rita Trillo-Ugarte explains a different industry background is not a hindrance to beginning a career in business process outsourcing (BPO).

ExcelAsia, a full-service human resource solutions company, is currently experiencing an increase in workforce demands among their outsourcing clients. Existing partnerships are being renewed and new clients are expected to relocate in the country. This resulted in new ExcelAsia sites in Sta. Rosa and soon in Eastwood, in addition to its existing sites in Makati, Alabang, Cebu, and Bacolod.

“Voice positions remain the bulk of vacancies we are filling up but we are starting to get an increasing number of manpower requests for back-office positions too,” Trillo-Ugarte said. “These include accounting and finance practitioners, graphic designers, and bilingual candidates, to name a few.”

As a full-service human resource solutions company, ExcelAsia conducts free training for applicants tagged as near-hires to prepare them for an outsourcing career. ExcelAsia’s training curriculum is duly recognized and facilitated in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and usually runs for two or more weeks, depending on the trainees’ readiness for client endorsement.

“ExcelAsia is in need of almost 4,000 jobseekers a month for our clients, who all seem to be ramping up and expanding despite the crisis,” Trillo-Ugarte said. “We expect more and more companies to outsource their service-oriented businesses to BPOs in the Philippines.”

ExcelAsia has an 85% hiring rate for trainees who finish their comprehensive training program, which consists of Basic Communication and Comprehension Skills as well as Customer Service 101. ExcelAsia currently has a roster of over 50 local and global clients from various industries.

“Individuals with export, retail, or electronics industry backgrounds will fit into most of our clients’ needs,” Trillo-Ugarte said. “They can handle a huge variety of accounts since some clients require IT experience, while some require sales or retail background. For example, workers from the export industry can capitalize on the work experience they gained in terms of liaising with offshore clients and supervising quality control.”