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Dell continues to open data centers overseas, this time opening one in the Philippines

Dell opened its second customer call center in the Philippines yesterday; now the American company will employ around 2,600 people in the area.  "We're growing quite rapidly," said Dick Hunter, Dell vice president for customer experience. 

Dell plans on hiring 100 people per month until 2,600 employees are working in the region.  The facility already employs 200 Dell agents and Dell plans on starting the hiring process immediately.  Dell will have around 6,500 employees in the country within five years.

Dell has locations where customers can call or e-mail in more than 25 locations around the world.  Dell recently opened a global business center in Malaysia that now provides 24-hour technology and engineering support to Dell branches around the world. The center is not intended for customer-direct use.

Dell did not disclose how much the company has invested for its total operations in the Philippines.  The Philippines continue to be an ideal location for tech companies to set up call centers and other business operations due to an "English-savvy" population with lots of students.  In fact, the call center industry appears to be one of the booming sectors in the Philippines, with more than 180,000 people employed in the job sector.

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Good News
By estaffer on 3/1/2007 7:05:34 PM , Rating: 2
i live in the philippines and work as a technical support rep for an isp. i understand why dell would like to open up a new site here (rather than anywhere) besides being "english-savvy" (accent is highly distinguishable though), reps are very technical as well. so that's thumbs up from me for dell.

i've gotten mixed reactions from customers having foreigners as their source of support. i guess nothing beats cheap wage hehe!




RE: Good News
By rippleyaliens on 3/1/2007 7:48:26 PM , Rating: 2
Hence, Once again america is self destructing. Nice comment above, but yah, it is bad, that a Employee for Dell, who lives in the philippines, cant even afford a computer from DELL. Now i am for saving a buck, but where will the consumer loyalty come from?
This news, makes it even easier for me to push HP, over Dell. Dell is pushing their PC's down every american throat, yet will not even try to employ americans for the work.

Another example of an american company not hiring americans, yet they wonder why americans STOP buying their product. Pay attention to the auto industry, and you will see the exact same thing. GM, FOrd, Chrysler, all have over seas plants, and are FIRING american workers LEFT RIGHT< UP AND DOWN, yet, they wonder why americans are not buying their cars and such.


RE: Good News
By fxyefx on 3/1/2007 8:46:14 PM , Rating: 3
I think you overestimate the idea of national loyalty and its effect on consumers. People buy what they know and what works. Many American consumers are "loyal" to companies that aren't American at all... In fact, they love foreign products. : )


RE: Good News
By allenwfc on 3/1/2007 10:25:00 PM , Rating: 2
on a side note,
there reason why most dell employees in the phils., cant buy a dell computer is because its prices locally are over-inflated.

If dell in the states is dirt cheap, in phils., its one of the most awfully over-priced, its sometimes is even more expensive than the lenovo's and hp's here.


RE: Good News
By sprockkets on 3/2/2007 1:00:53 AM , Rating: 2
Are not most making them in Mexico due to less restrictions on manufacturing?

Don't Honda and Toyota make their stuff here anyhow? Ford and Mazda do too, though the Mazda3 and other stuff is made in Japan.


RE: Good News
By theapparition on 3/2/2007 8:16:39 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
This news, makes it even easier for me to push HP, over Dell.

And HP is any better?
I recently had to return a printer, and couldn't understand a single rep I talked to.
Let's just say both support groups are terrible. However, I would prefer support from Philipines rather than India (et. al.), since that is more of a "native" language.


RE: Good News
By BPB on 3/2/2007 8:29:41 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Pay attention to the auto industry, and you will see the exact same thing. GM, FOrd, Chrysler, all have over seas plants, and are FIRING american workers LEFT RIGHT< UP AND DOWN, yet, they wonder why americans are not buying their cars and such.

That situation is a bit different. The reason they close some plants and open others out of the US or in Mexico is because they made deals with the Devil (meaning unions) that were really bad deals. They simply can't afford the cost of union employees. Their benefits cost them too much. My father-in-law work for GM for 30 years as a plain old factory worker, nothing special at all. Yet he gets free health care for life and all sorts of things. PLUS, his employee discount extends all the way down to all his GRANDkids, not just his kids. Needless to say my wife and I get GM cars, and we have gotten some awesome deals. But frankly I think GM screwed themselves making these deals. This is not to say that I am anti-union, I think they have their place when properly setup (most either screw the workers or screw the company, or both!). I was a member of several while working my way through college. But the United Auto Workers really tied up the US companies and made it very hard for them to compete.

As for Dell, this news is one reason I went with the Gateway 24" over Dell's which may well be better. I have had other Gateway products and my calls for tech support or customer service have always gone well (though maybe that's just been my luck?). But Dell! Geez, I've made calls for my sister-in-law's notebook that were awfull. I've had to hang up and call back in hopes that I could understand the next "Steve", I mean Mudeet. The overseas people may be nice people, but if I can't understand them, forget it.

Oh, a few years ago I worked with three consultants from the Philippines and they were greaat guys, but their accents made it hard to work with them. I live in a coastal area and one Monday we asked them (the "3 Amigos" was their nickname) what they did over the weekend. They said they went to the bit*h. We looked at them in shock and said "What?". One of the women on the team was not happy. They said, "Yeah, we went to the bit*h to go swimming." It was good for a laugh, but it showed just how hard it was to understand them at times.


RE: Good News
By TomZ on 3/2/2007 8:34:03 AM , Rating: 2
American companies have a duty to their shareholders to maximize their profit. It is not their responsibility to create jobs for Americans. If the latter happens, that is great, but earning a profit is the primary purpose for companies.

I work in the American automotive industry. American automotive companies are generally not shifting jobs overseas in the way you describe. Instead, they are letting go of workers and closing plants in order to cope with falling demand for their products. Customers are not buying fewer American-brand cars because of where they are produced; they are buying fewer because they are generally not as good as those produced by the Japanese transplants (e.g., Toyota and Honda). The American automotive companies have been severely mismanaged for many years now, especially Ford and GM.


RE: Good News
By Tilmitt on 3/2/2007 9:19:28 AM , Rating: 1
You are nationalist, and therefore stupid.


RE: Good News
By Moishe on 3/2/2007 10:14:55 AM , Rating: 2
Dell is looking out for it's shareholders as they are legally required to do. As much as I love my country and wish it to always win in everything, this is a combination of the nature of a global economy and over-regulated industry in the U.S.

Because Dell can get the work cheaper, they do.
Why can they get work cheaper? Because the wage and tax difference between the U.S. and the Philippines. Some of that cannot be helped (there will always be poorer countries and richer countries).

All the people crying for a higher minimum wage in the U.S. don't realize that it's one of those things that makes companies go overseas to get cheaper workers. A higher minimum wage effects wages all across the board, NOT just those at the bottom. If people insist on higher wages the more the costs to produce/support a Dell costs. The more taxes, regulation, etc the more the costs go up. Higher costs make it more likely that Dell will hire people where the costs are less. It's just common sense.

On top of all that, the Philippines have been a good U.S. ally for a long time and it's good to support your friends. Good for them I say.


RE: Good News
By dubldwn on 3/2/2007 12:20:27 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
All the people crying for a higher minimum wage in the U.S. don't realize that it's one of those things that makes companies go overseas to get cheaper workers.

No it wouldn't. Dell wouldn't pay minimum wage to US based call center employees anyway. $5.15/hr is a disgrace, and as far as I'm concerned it's modern slavery. You're right about taxes and regulation - it is common sense. But I would also hope that it's equally common to sense the need to raise the minimum pay for an hour of a person's time from 1997 levels.


RE: Good News
By behemothzero on 3/1/2007 9:06:55 PM , Rating: 2
The only reason they're putting up a call center here (in the Philippines) is because Filipinos can live on a $300 monthly salary without slacking off.


RE: Good News
By allenwfc on 3/1/2007 10:28:26 PM , Rating: 2
plus, they are willing to be tied to the company for 1 - 2 years for a mere $200 - $600 signing bonus.


RE: Good News
By bim27142 on 3/2/2007 12:45:12 AM , Rating: 2
Make that about $500... But stress level at Dell call centers???? OMG?! I'd rather stick with my $300 monthly wage...... and I still can enjoy life! :) with Dell, you don't have a life at all?!


Wow, I have to deal with Phinglish from now on.
By Roy2001 on 3/2/2007 1:55:03 AM , Rating: 4
Wow, I have to deal with Phinglish from now on.




By animedude on 3/2/2007 4:51:51 AM , Rating: 2
You rather enjoy indish? :D


By Roy2001 on 3/2/2007 12:46:26 PM , Rating: 2
I meant in addition ti Indilish, we will have to deal with Phinglish :D


By PWNettle on 3/2/2007 2:11:16 PM , Rating: 2
More reason to build your own PC. If you need more reasons.

Although I will say that I can't always understand my fellow Americans all the time when I call for support. Some American "dialects" or accents are no easier to understand.


Manila
By meatfestival on 3/4/2007 12:15:44 PM , Rating: 2
I work in tech support for a UK ISP, and our colleagues in Manila are really not very good. I don't know if they get much training, but they frequently pass calls to us so we can pick up the pieces. Often their english is barely adequate, it's no wonder people get so frustrated with overseas call centres, especially when there is a technical emphasis.




RE: Manila
By vken27 on 3/4/2007 4:14:21 PM , Rating: 2
I disagree, technical expertise is often dictated by training plus experience. Should you be new to your work, i am very sure you'll be passing calls to other people as well. Practice makes perfect.


i just wow'd
By DarthKojima on 3/3/2007 3:41:21 AM , Rating: 2
well um oviously it is indeed a good news for us filipinos, especially for those who are desperate to find an easy job. Call center is for you XD. I dunno but IMHO Manila is a capital of Call Centers. Well my girlfriends have already experienced working at call centers at graveyard shift. And Damn that sucks cause I can't sex with them anymore :( anyway am happy that there is always a substitute :)




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