Once you decide to take advantage of the benefits of outsourcing a portion of your day-to-day operations, there will be another choice to be made.  While the Philippines is an obviously attractive option due to the high quality work performed, English fluency, and low cost, you must still decide between Manila, Cebu, and Davao City.

Manila: The Traditional Choice

Historically, a choice to outsource a portion of your business to the Philippines meant that work would be performed in the capital city of Manila.  Efforts by the country’s government have seen the emergence of other cities as viable outsource options as well.

Manila is still a very good selection for outsourcing.  The biggest advantage Manila has working for it is an established infrastructure.  The reliability of vitals such as power and telecommunications are still the best in Manila.

However, the city’s weakness is found in its rapidly depleting labor pool.  Because the outsource market has been long established, the costs can be greater, and it can be a challenge to find the highest quality labor possible in Manila.

Cebu: Growing in Competitiveness

Cebu is one of the cities that is also making a great case for itself in the outsource market.  The available workforce and rapidly improving infrastructure are quite attractive.  Where the competitiveness in Manila provides challenges in the way of finding the highest quality labor at affordable prices, this is less of a problem in Cebu.  The English language proficiency in Cebu is very impressive and provides a nice capability to handle voice based interactions with customers from the United States.

Davao City: The Most Cost-Effective Choice

When you outsource to Davao City, you enjoy a highly skilled and available work force and forgo only a little in established infrastructure.  Additionally, the low cost of living and availability of cheap real estate make this city hard to resist.  Since employees do not have to pay as much for labor and overhead, Davao City offers an incredible savings on cost of operations and a big return on any investment.

While Manila may be a traditional choice, you stand to profit a great deal more by considering other options.  Cebu and Davao City are wonderful places to start your search.  While there certainly is nothing wrong with a choice to outsource in Cebu, Davao City offers the best value in terms of quality of staff and low overhead costs.

Related articles

• How Outsourcing to the Philippines Actually Stimulates the American Economy (trybpo.com)
• Infra readiness, talent pool vital for BPO competitiveness (mindanao.com)