MANILA - A number of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the Visayas temporarily stopped operations amid the onslaught of Typhoon ‘Yolanda’.
Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president Jose Mari P. Mercado told InterAksyon.com that firms had to prioritize the safety of employees, who would have difficulty going to work amid the harsh weather.
"Some [companies] shut down, some went on lean operations. Our priority stays--safety and security of employees," Mercado said.
Some of the BPO industry's hubs in the Visayas such as Cebu and Iloilo were along the path of Yolanda--said to be the world's strongest typhoon this year.
Mercado said IBPAP has yet to assess the impact of Yolanda, but the sector was "definitely affected" by the typhoon.
Tampa, Florida-based Sykes Enterprises Inc said in a statement that the impact of Yolanda on its Philippine operations “has been immaterial, given the company’s disaster recovery planning and built-in redundant support infrastructure.”
“The company has been operating in the Philippines since 1997, and the number of typhoons and storms the archipelago experiences on average is roughly 20 on an annual basis,” Sykes noted.
Sykes has facilities in Metro Manila and Cebu.
source: interaksyon.com
