Deutsche Bank to expand Philippine BPO

Posted November 25, 2008

European giant Deutsche Bank is transforming the Philippines into an even bigger business process outsourcing (BPO) hub for its global operations to account for 60-70 percent of group-wide offshoring business.

For next year, the group plans to increase its workforce in the Philippines to about 2,500, from 1,600 at present, to make its global operations more efficient especially given the global financial turmoil, said Chris Sullivan, chief executive of Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd. (DKS).

DKS is a regional outsourcing hub established in the Philippines by Deutsche Bank in 2004, one of its two group-wide professional service centers in Asia. The other is in India.

Sullivan said the German bank has now migrated more than 30 percent of global processes in offshore hubs and, during a strategic planning review in Frankfurt, agreed to target an increase in the ratio to 80 percent. Of the operations to be brought offshore, he said the Philippines would likely have a dominant share of about 60-70 percent.

He said Deutsche Bank would create jobs in more complicated, higher value-added services in the areas of information technology, finance and other business operations that no other multinational corporation has ever dared bring out of financial centers like London or New York.

“These are not just call centers,” he said, noting that the finance-related job opportunities, for instance, would vary from financial reporting to independent valuation of assets to trading operations.

Judging by the large turnout of young people at the DKS-sponsored job fair yesterday, Sullivan said that getting competent people in the Philippines was not an issue especially for an institution like Deutsche Bank, which is pouring more money in human capital.

“We did not just offshore, we totally redesigned our organizations onshore. The only thing we’re leaving onshore is management information process that requires quick turnaround,” Sullivan said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 November 2008
by Doris Dumlao