Narayan AmmachchiBPO provider Qualfon has opened its largest campus in the Guyanese capital of Georgetown. Spread across a 10-acre plot in East Bank Demerara, the campus is expected to grow to accomodate over 6,000 workers over the next five years. Qualfon first arrived in Guyana ten years ago.
This is Qualfon’s third contact center in the Georgetown area. In a statement, the firm said it had already begun recruiting customer service representatives, technical support representatives and managers.
Kirk Laughlin, the Founder and Managing Director of Nearshore Americas, was among several guests who spoke highly on what Qualfon and Guyana have created together.
“What is impressive about the commitment of Qualfon is that it is enabling a new generation of young people to become globally fluent. Those people can take the fluency and do amazing things. They can start their own businesses, rise to senior level positions in Qualfon, putting them in touch with a global ICT industry that is growing very fast and changing quickly,” he said. “There is something very special here and this is what is really powerful about the prospect of the business outsourcing industry in which outsiders like me, observe the specialness, the unique features that even people in that country don’t fully recognize.” Laughlin’s comments were featured in several local media reports.
Beyond its size and the level of employment that the campus will generate, it is also noteworthy for its “green” features, including solar panels, a rainwater harvesting system and an onsite waste-water treatment facility.
Other facilities include a cafeteria, call center training center and a health club. The campus will eventually contain two call centers, with one of the centers becoming operational by May. Another contact center, with 114,000 square-feet floor space, will also house a community center and an interfaith chapel.
Qualfon says Guyana has a huge potential to become the call center capital of South America because it is the only nation on the continent where English is the first language and it offers a cost structure that is competitive with India and the Philippines.
Laughlin agreed that Guyana is a “surprising prospect” within the Latin American and Caribbean BPO and ITO space. “Guyana has made it very clear that this country is willing to work with investors to meet them half-way, to provide value, to expose to these investors what the value is,” he said.
In addition to Guyana, Qualfon has delivery centers in the United States, the Philippines, Mexico, and China. Qualfon’s capacity grew substantially in May last year when it acquired U.S. call center firm Center Partners, adding 2,500 employees and six delivery centers in North America.
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