Sitel Group, a global leader in end-to-end customer experience products and solutions, has extended employment opportunities to bus and jeepney drivers in Baguio who were not able to work due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company, the first business process outsourcing (BPO) firm in the region, has hired over 30 displaced drivers for its newly established workforce transportation fleet.
Sitel partnered with Liga ng Transportasyon at Operator ng Pilipinas (LTOP) and created a fleet consisting of eight buses, 20 jeepneys, and roughly 38 drivers to cover several routes. The fleet transports 1,900 employees daily.
“We’re very grateful to Sitel for giving our drivers, operators, and support personnel a way to still earn a living during the pandemic,” said LTOP-Cordillera and Region 1 president Patricio Evangelista.
“Through this partnership, our drivers and staff were able to rely on a steady source of income when they needed it the most,” Evangelista added.
Sitel Baguio Vice President of Operations Ian Zafra Sitel said the company has always been an active member of the Baguio community.
“We are not only committed to business success and expansion in the region, but also to support and uplift the communities in which we live and work. When the pandemic hit, everyone was struggling to mitigate the challenges of the quarantine and the global health crisis. After spearheading initial fundraising and donation drives, we still looked for other ways that we could help,” Sitel said.
When the community quarantine was imposed, Sitel pivoted to in-center and work-from-home operations.
The firm launched a van shuttle service to ferry employees to and from their homes to company sites. When the quarantine eased and a percentage of public transportation became available again, the company shifted from vans to hiring buses and jeeps.
“Hiring buses and jeepneys for our workforce fleet not only made the initiative more operationally manageable with optimum outflow, but we also had the chance to employ drivers who lost their means of income,” said Sitel Human Resources Senior Manager Juancho Blanco.
“The implementation was challenging at first however through continuous collaboration with our vendors and feedback and suggestions from our associates, we were able to make adjustments to routes and times and create a smooth daily operation schedule.” – Press release
