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Contact:
Prime Minister's Press Secretary
Friday, May 12, 2006 - The National Development
Corporation (NDC) on May 3rd, formally welcomed to St. Lucia the newest company
on the private sector landscape, the Jamaica-based e-Services Group
International.
Chief Executive Officer of the NDC, Mr. Wayne Vitalis, said “the NDC has been
steadfastly pressing on from the initial contact made with the company two years
ago.”
Mr. Vitalis said their efforts “have borne fruit” and there is “physical proof”
that the new company is now busy establishing itself here.
According to Mr Vitalis: “As we speak, refurbishment work has commenced on the
former Cimpex Building at Massade in Gros-Islet.
“Contractors are busy knocking down walls; electrical contractors are busy
pulling up wires in preparation for the reconfiguration of the office layout.
“I'm excited too because it is not just a question of providing jobs for St.
Lucians; it's about providing sustainable jobs.”
The NDC official said the company “is in the process of recruiting 120 persons
initially, with hundreds more to be employed during a second phase of
recruitment.” In fact, the company hopes to employ some 400 employees when it’s
in full operation.
The employment opportunities being offered by e-Services, Mr. Vitalis said,
“dovetail wonderfully with other initiatives that underscores government's
commitment to alleviating poverty and the plight of young persons in society.”
Said Vitalis: “In the last budget debate, some of you no doubt would heard
government's commitment to encouraging investment in the telecommunications
sector in St. Lucia.
“Having made tremendous investment and also having nurtured the environment for
the development of our telecommunications infrastructure, we are pleased to have
this new well connected and reputable Jamaican firm set up shop here. “
The Chief Executive Officer of e-Services, Mr. Patrick Casserly, has disclosed
that the company will initially invest one million US dollars just to get off
the ground in St. Lucia.
The company official, who visited the island for a first-hand look at how things
were progressing, said his company has a very credible track record and that the
public was free to conduct their own background checks via the world wide web.
According to Casserly: “e-Services Group (St. Lucia) Limited is a Saint Lucian
company now. It's owned by Jamaica e-Services Group (Jamaica) Limited. We also
intend to have 120 persons, all starting employment by June 1, 2006 to be in
productive employment by early July- that means handling customer service calls.
We're also hoping to have 300 to 400 people employed by Christmas.”
Mr. Casserly provided further insight into the company's operations. He said:
“e-Services is not a telemarketing company; it does no buying or selling, but it
is a customer service provider, willing to provide decent packages to workers
who will be trained to provide an excellent service to inter national customers.
According to Casserly: “This is not your normal call centre business. Our
attrition rate -- which is the number of persons who leave us annually -- is
under ten percent. That's not usual for this industry, because, unlike many
other companies, we don't do tele-marketing and we don't do debt collection.
Actually, we don't call people. They call us.”
Mr. Casserly said most of the phone calls that the Listener Care Representatives
will handle will be from clients in the United States.
e-Services Group International will stage two major Job Fairs here today and
tomorrow (May 13 and 14) at the Bay Gardens Hotel.
The other fairs will take place next weekend, on May 20 & 21.
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