Is Laguna province poised to become the new hub for business process outsourcing (BPO)?
With the BPO industry bouncing back from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic – and amid concerns that the National Capital Region (NCR) has become too crowded for further growth – industry stakeholders see the nearby province of Laguna as a new hub for expansion.
One such firm, Afni Philippines, is putting its bets on the province as it opened its newest site at the SM City Santa Rosa last Saturday, April 13.
Equal opportunities
In an interview with OpinYon Laguna, Afni Philippines officials said the firm aims to become a model of inclusive and diverse workforce in the province of Laguna.
"The Afni culture is one that espouses diversity, equality and fairness. We wanted our employees to enjoy working here; it's really a 'people-centered' culture that we would like them to experience here, especially here in our new site in Santa Rosa City," Melanie Lara, Senior Director for Human Resources, explained.
“We don’t have age limit, we are espousing diversity— even if you are a senior citizen as long as you can work on site and can-do graveyard shifts, we are open for that… Persons with disability are also welcome. We also accept senior high school graduates as long as they have at least six-month experience with BPO,” she added.
Khalid Khursheed, the firm’s senior vice president and country manager, said Afni chose Santa Rosa as location to its third office due to its accessibility to the public, rich talent pool, and existing infrastructure.
“By opening our new site in Santa Rosa, we are not only creating new job opportunities but also empowering local talents in and around Laguna to thrive closer to where they live," he said at the site’s grand opening on April 14.
“We also want to help the Philippine government ease up the traffic, we don’t want to open up another center in Metro Manila where it’s already difficult for people to travel,” the official added.
Khursheed added that Afni hopes to generate 3,000 jobs at the new site in Santa Rosa City by the end of 2024.
“Actually, some of our clients want us to add more agents, so we’re looking at hiring 1,000 more workers at this site by 2025,” he bared.
Santa Rosa City Mayor Arlene Arcillas, who was also present at the launch, said Afni’s new office further boosts the city’s position as the ICT hub of Southern Luzon.
About Afni
Afni Philippines caters to overseas clients in various industries, including insurance, financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, fitness, and media.
It established a presence in the country in 2012, starting from 80 to 100 hires per month that eventually grew to 250 to 300 recruits per week.
Afni has two other offices in Quezon City and employs more than 8,000 to date.
Afni Santa Rosa has a number of jobs offers spanning from technical support, customer relations, human resource, administration to managerial positions, among others.
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