John Clements Trains Near-Hires through E4E
By Agnes Celdran

Now more than ever, proficiency in oral and written English is considered not only an essential tool in penetrating the job market for aspiring employees, but also a key factor in the hiring and recruitment processes of many companies. With the rapid growth of the BPO industry, the need to further elevate the Filipinos’ competence in English verbal communication is of utmost necessity and importance.

Currently, there are over 100 call centers in the Philippines, employing 112,000 people. For this year alone, the industry will need 89,000 new hires. Unfortunately, because of the lack of English skills, only about 40,000 new graduates will be hired. There is, therefore, a felt need to fill up the 50,000 gap by improving the acceptance rates of these graduates, as well as shifters, non-degree holders and the unemployed.

In order to address this need, John Clements Consultants, Inc. has partnered with Accenture, Teledevelopment and Future Perfect, to form the Power Team in a program called E4E (English for Employment). Launched in February, its aim is to raise the participants’ English proficiency levels from that of near-hires to sure-hire levels, using a 100-hour training program. By the end of the course, it is expected that their usage of English will have significantly improved—participants will be able to speak fluently with accuracy and confidence, as well as have a better understanding of their client’s culture.

At present, 6 classes have been launched: FuturePerfect classes sponsored by Convergys and AIG, Teledevelopment sponsored by C3, and John Clements sponsored by Citibank/Crescent, Accenture and John Clements.