Call center firms hit applicants' poor English proficiency (Sun.Star, Tuesday, July 17, 2007)

Call center firms hit applicants' poor English proficiency

By Ian Ocampo Flora

CLARK FREEPORT -- The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector here is gaining stable ground but its officials are complaining about the poor English proficiency of their applicants.

The leading BPO companies within Clark are Sutherland, Cyber City Teleservices, and America on Line (AOL).

However, Clark officials are optimistic that within a year's time, the growth in BPO companies would be as diverse if not the same as that in Manila.

One of the hindrances in this business, according to BPO recruitment officers, is the increasing non-encouraging result in the evaluation and screening of most applicants. Analysts and educators are blaming the poor educational foundation of aspiring employees during elementary and high school.

According to Evelyn Alinas, recruitment supervisor for Sutherland Philippines, most of the applicants who apply with their company are screened based on different factors, one of which is English proficiency.

Alinas said applicants failed in their command of the English language during conversations. Another factor in the mortality of applicants is their command of the English language.

"Our education in the English language needs a lot of improvement," she said.

Sutherland alone employs 1,426 employees since it started operations a few months ago. It is set to hire at least 400 to 600 agents within the months to come. However, this plan seems to be on a far end as possible employees are still to be screened from the "unfit" ones. The company will be going to nearby provinces just to scout for possible agents.

"We are going as far as Tarlac and Bataan for possible employees. We have a lot of manpower available and the need for employees in the BPO is also increasing. However, any BPO company wouldn't sacrifice the quality of their service just to accommodate the extra people in need of jobs," Alinas said.

Most BPOs like Sutherland and Cyber City are linked with tie-ups with nearby schools within Angles and Clark area to at least even out the problems in the English language.

"We are trying to coordinate with schools to at least make their course outlines 'tailor-fit' with the needs of the BPO sector," said Alinas.