Foreign funding sought for information tech skills audit

The information and communications technology sector is looking into tapping official development assistance for a study the will determine the level of skills of the labor force in the city in relation to demand.Lizabel Holganza, information and communications technology chairman of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said there have been discussions on evaluating the current level of competence of this city’s labor force."We have been discussing the issue, but we have yet to take off. But there are some research agencies that have presented their capabilities [in undertaking the study]," Ms. Holganza said, adding that her group aims to tap international funds for the study.She said that, initially, the sector wanted that the study be conducted in phased in order to ensure that no issue is overlooked.Baseline informationWithout the baseline data on the skills of the labor force, it is hard for companies to evaluate whether the city and the surrounding areas can readily supply the labor requirements in case they decide to set up operations in the city.Last year, Teolulo Pasawa, head of the National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center, confirmed that two call center companies operating here have found it difficult to expand their operation because of lack of workers. One of the companies then was recruiting about 2,000 workers for its expansion, while the other wanted 500 workers more.Mr. Pasawa said one problem was not lack of workers, but the desire of many local workers to find work in Manila where salaries are higher than in Davao. Mr. Pasawa said call centers operating in the city could offer only as high as P11,000 a month, while Manila-based call centers would offer about 50% higher, with added perks.Why recruit here?"If only these call center will settle for ’comfortable rates,’ many of them [locals] will work here," Mr. Pasawa added.Local stakeholders have criticized Manila and Cebu-based companies for recruiting from the city instead of just expanding here. Andre Joseph Fournier, also an official of the local business chamber, said that companies must instead consider the city as their expansion areas instead of bringing to Manila their recruits because it would entail more expense and will not develop the city.But Mr. Pasawa said some companies told him that they would consider the city as good location only if they can save about 20% of their capital expenditures by doing so.InitiativesSchools, however, have slowly responded to the call of stakeholders to focus their curricula on the needs of local companies, Mr. Pasawa noted pointing out that some of these schools even signed agreements with local call centers so they could improve their English language proficiency.Mr. Pasawa added that the Commission on Higher Education has also forged an agreement with four universities in the city to become centers of development through their courses on information and communications technology, including business process outsourcing.