More persons to be employed in Region Ten

– as US BPO Company hosts job-fair in Linden

Government continues in 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 today 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 Ten. The job fair allows for persons in the Mining Town and other communities in Region Ten to benefit from training opportunities through Prochant Guyana in partnership with Government, and employment with the United States-based global company. The Company, operating for over 25 years with over 2500 global employees working specifically in the US healthcare industry focused on medical billing and revenue cycle, is slated to employ 100 persons by the first half of 2025 with the objective of ramping up further. Following training, people can pursue career opportunities in the areas of patient interactive services, referral interactive services and accounts receivable services.

Speaking to the over 600 persons in attendance, including Lindeners and officials of Prochant at the job-fair today 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 Ten 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 explained. He further added that the Guyanese business, Midas BPO was brought in and commenced operations. He also further recognized the efforts of Mr. 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, Government, recognizing the constant changes in the information communications technology sector, also recognized 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 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 indicated that Government would continue to support the BPO sector. It has been doing so through the liberalization 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 Call-Centre industry. In addition, 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 Irfaan Ali aimed at the mass production of metallurgical bauxite, with the investment estimated at over USD 100 million creating approximately 500 job opportunities for Region Ten.

Speaking at the event as well, Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill encouraged persons to seize the opportunities of the training provided through 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 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GO-Invest Dr. Peter Ramsaroop while Global Patient Contact Centre Manager of Prochant Mr. Timothy Beasley, thanked 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.

Government vows to continue its engagement with the BPO industry to make Guyana a preferred destination for BPOs.f