Davao Call Centers Not Bothered With High Agent Turnover Rate

Call Centers worldwide particularly in economic centers like Metro Manila and Cebu City may be having problems with the fast turnover of call center agents but this is not a problem among Davao City call centers.

The normal turnover rate is placed at 30 to 40 percent but the Call Center Association of the Philippines reported a higher turnover rate of 60 to 80 percent. This was however debunked by Nannete Del Mundo of Cyber City and Arlene Ozoa of the 611 Call Center operated by the JIB Career Center. De Mundo said the survey may have been based on the experiences of call centers located in congested areas like Manila and Cebu.

The fast and high turnover of call center agents is blamed on stress, pressure, irregular work hours, boredom and health reasons.

Unlike Manila and Cebu based call centers which offer extraordinary incentives to encourage the employment of more call center agents and to limit the high and fast turnover rates, Davao City call centers offer only a salary rate of P8,000 to P14,000 without such incentives.

P70M Watts Call Center Opens At NCCC Mall Today

A 250-work station call center located at the 4th floor of NCCC Mall in Matina opens in Davao City today. This is the largest mall-based call center in the city with a capitalization of P60 to P70 million.

Derek Rice, Facility Director of Western Watts, said they will start its operations with only 250 seats but looks to open another 400 seats for the second phase of the project bringing the total to 650 seats by August next year. Western Watts is considered one of the largest data collection companies in the United States with expertise in market research.

Western Watts is one of the pioneering BPOs in Cebu but the company's operations there experienced some problems leading to a massive layoffs in December last year.

Unlike most call centers in the city which is experiencing a fast turn over of agents due to the work schedule and pressure of selling, Western Watts call center agents are expected to stay on because they only have one shift and that is from 4:30AM to 11:30 AM. No selling for these agents, only cold calling for market research.

Rice said they are eyeing an expansion by next year and when the facilities and the staff are ready then they might add additional shifts for calling UK and US companies.