MANILA -- Business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Teleperformance is bullish about the Philippines, its founder and CEO Daniel Julien told ANC.

"The Philippines [is] naturally attractive due to the overall proximity to the (United States), due to the incredible empathy that the people from the Philippines deliver, they have talent that is exceptional," he said.

"It’s a naturally oriented nation and culture for pleasing the people," he added.

Teleperformance has 500,000 employees worldwide, of which 60,000 are in the Philippines.

The Philippines is their second biggest delivery center worldwide, behind India's 90,000.

Julien said they have always been focused on opening businesses in the Philippine countryside.

"We always had a focus on the countryside because we thought Manila was great but a little bit overcrowded, not only by the competition--just the traffic," he said.

"It was terrible to think our agent would have one hour 30 minutes to come to the center to work, and then 1 hour 30 minutes [to go home]—that’s too much."

He noted that they have offices in Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and even a smaller site in General Santos City.

Julien also said he is optimistic about the business' growth worldwide.

There was a drop in customer interactions with brands online as COVID-19 restrictions eased, but their business continued to hire more people.

"I would say that our client do not hire us just for labor or managing people. They hire us for our expertise, for our ability to streamline processes," he stressed.

--ANC, 20 February 2024