TELUS International president: Our investment plan anticipates “many more thousand jobs being created in Romania”

Newsroom 03/06/2016 | 18:01

Jeff Puritt, the president of TELUS International, the BPO services provider, told BR in an exclusive interview in Bucharest that the company plans to increase its operations in Romania.

Puritt suggested that the fresh investment could come after Baring Private Equity Asia, one of the largest PE funds in Asia, took over a 35 percent stake in Canadian TELUS international.

At present, the company has 800 employees in Romania, which are working in two centers located in Bucharest and Craiova.

“I don’t know if it’s technically accurate to connect this deal to the number of jobs being created. I think our plan, from our original investment thesis in 2012 to today and for the next five years anticipates many more thousand jobs being created in Romania and this transaction I believe will continue to make it more likely than not to achieve our plan,” said the president.

“We are looking to continue to expand that footprint in Craiova, concurrent to the expansion of our footprint in Bucharest (the company has its offices in AFI Park – e.n).

Will we consider expanding to Iasi, to Timisoara? Absolutely, and it’s part my local team’s ongoing management responsibility to continue to evaluate the viability of our growth aspirations, both where we have offices today and elsewhere in the country,” added Puritt. He said that the company could apply for state aid, but a decision was not made yet.

When asked how the Romanian operations of the company are different from those in other countries, Puritt said:

“I think there are some really unique attributes to the team we have in Romania, contrasting with our team in the Philippines for example. So, on average, my team members here in Romania speak four languages fluently. In the Philippines, they speak two languages. And having those multi-lingual skill sets I think uniquely positions Romania as a destination of choice for service delivery and customer care and technical support given the competence and predisposition around IT and engineering for a long time to come. It is a really unique differentiator and a competitive advantage for the long term,” said the head of the company.

Aside from Romania, the company has offices in Bulgaria and the UK as part of its European operations.

Around 650 employees of TELUS International in Romania will be part of a philanthropic project on June 4.

The volunteers will make the necessary renovations to a center for Romanian children with rare and life limiting illnesses, together with Hospices of Hope as part of the TELUS Days of Giving initiative.

Ovidiu Posirca

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