Sutherland expands operations in Manila

The Kochi facility to be ready by third quarter of 2006

New York-headquartered BPO firm, Sutherland Global Services has inaugurated a new facility in Manila, Philippines and plans to double its head count in that country over the next six months.

The company's new facility in Manila was formally inaugurated by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president of the Philippines, on Monday. The company launched its operations in Manila during mid-2005 and had ramped up its headcount to over 750 against a phase 1 target of 500 professionals.

It plans to double its headcount over the next 6 months to take the total strength in the Philippines to over 1500 employees.

Dilip Vellodi, chairman and chief executive officer, Sutherland Global Services, told Business Standard that the Manila centre was offering services in banking, financial services and insurance and in technology verticals to customers in US and UK.

Philippines continued to remain a great delivery location, offering advantages of high value at a competitive cost, along with a robust talent pool, he said in a release.

He also said the company would be exploring the option of expanding its operations outside Manila. It had identified three locations for this purpose and was expected to finalise the plans in the next 4-5 months, he added.

Sutherland's delivery centers are located in USA, Canada, Philippines and India. Its Global employee base is over 12,000 professionals, with over 8000 in India.

The company also said its service delivery centre and training facilities in Kochi, Kerala, would become operational by the third quarter of 2006. It will be hiring 3,000 professionals over the next three years for its Kerala operations. It has already announced an investment of Rs 120 crore for the expansion plan. It has offshore centres in Chennai and Mumbai. In Chennai alone it employs close to 6500 people.