–as US BPO company hosts job fair in Linden

THE government continues its aggressive efforts to ensure that employment is increased throughout the country with its support to the private sector and the facilitation of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) centres in various regions.

This was no different on Friday when Senior Minister Dr Ashni K. Singh and Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill attended a job fair hosted by Prochant, a US-headquartered Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company, in partnership with the Government of Guyana, at the Watooka Guest House in Linden, Region 10.

The job fair allowed persons in the mining town and other communities in Region 10 to benefit from training opportunities through Prochant Guyana, in partnership with the government, and employment with the United States-based global company.

The company, operating for over 25 years with over 2,500 global employees working specifically in the US healthcare industry focused on medical billing and revenue cycles, is slated to employ 100 persons by the first half of 2025 with the objective of ramping up further.

After receiving training, people could pursue career opportunities in the areas of patient- interactive services, referral-interactive services and accounts-receivable services.
In his address to over 600 persons in attendance, including Lindeners and officials of Prochant at the job fair, Dr Singh officially welcomed Prochant to Guyana, urged them to ramp up their operations and expressed the hope that the US business will expand further and employ thousands of Guyanese in Region 10 and elsewhere in the country.

“This is not a one-off or isolated occurrence. When we [PPP/C government] came back into government, one of the first visits I made was to the call centre location and said at that time this building must be renovated and brought into operation. We did and completed renovation of operations,” Dr Singh said.

He further added that the Guyanese business, Midas BPO, was brought in and commenced operations.
Dr Singh recognised the efforts of Malcolm Sobers, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the former Midas Call Centre, who played an integral role in resuscitating the call-centre in Linden in 2021.
The Senior Minister pointed out that over the course of time, the government, recognising the constant changes in the information communications technology sector, also recognised the need to evolve the model of the call-centre from an entry-level one providing telemarketing services to a contact centre providing more value-added jobs.

Thus, through involvement and leadership provided by the government and the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), an international partner was sought to create those value-added jobs.
In his 2024 budget speech, Dr Singh had indicated that the government would continue to support the BPO sector. It has been doing so through the liberalisation and creation of a competitive telecommunications sector soon after taking office in 2020 resulting in a significant reduction in the cost of bandwidth and allowing for the expansion of the BPO industry.

In addition, the government has constructed four new call centre shells: two each in Essequibo and Berbice, as well as resuscitated the call centre in Linden, first established when it was in office pre-2015.

Dr Singh further outlined the history of job-creation in the mining town through the efforts of the PPP/C to resuscitate and expand the bauxite industry as he alluded to the commissioning of BOSAI’s new kiln 15 in Linden and the MAZ project by President, Dr Irfaan Ali, aimed at the mass production of metallurgical bauxite, with the investment estimated at over US$100 million, creating approximately 500 job opportunities for Region 10.

Minister Edghill, in his remarks at the event, encouraged persons to seize the opportunities of the training provided through the government in partnership with Prochant and when employed, to work diligently in terms of the way they approach the job as the success of the initiative would depend on the quality of work put in.

Also speaking at the event was CEO of GO-Invest Dr Peter Ramsaroop, while Global Patient Contact Centre Manager of Prochant, Timothy Beasley thanked the government for the support in aiding the establishment of the company’s presence in Guyana, its support towards training while also pledging to ensure that 100 persons are employed by the first half of 2025.
The government vows to continue its engagement with the BPO industry to make Guyana a preferred destination for BPOs.