PH workforce vital to growth of int’l industrial engineering firm

MANILA, Philippines—An international manufacturing and industrial technology company attributed the success and growth of their worldwide business to the quality of Filipino employees in their facilities in the Philippines.

“The growth of our business is because of the high quality of the people that we have in this operation here in Manila,” Edward Monser, President and Chief Operating Officer of Emerson, said during the inauguration of their new 10,000 square meter facility last June 19, 2014.

“We are here [because] we found a well-educated and skilled workforce coupled with a very professional attitude. The Philippines is an important contributor to, and a backbone of, our engineering and global support network,” he said.

Emerson’s new facility, which will employ an additional 300 employees from the previous 700 in the old facility, is part of their $20 million investment in the Philippines.

Monser also cited the loyalty of Filipino employees as a big plus for them because majority of Emerson’s clients, who own factories or power plants, want stable, long-term business relationships.

“We value people coming and joining our company and staying with us for their career and we have found that here in Manila. People that think the same way, they like to come and join us and stay with us,” Monser said.

“We can get the skills, we can get the competitiveness, and we can get the long-term relationship with our employees which I think is vital. There are many places in the world where that does not exist, people come and go, but here we’ve been able to have a relationship with our employees that are solid and good for many years,” he said.

The Philippine education system was praised for being “efficient” in producing the skilled engineers Emerson needs to operate the 230 manufacturing locations all over the world.

“The students come out and know what they need to know to go to work. Coming out of school and knowing how to work is a big deal. [It is] an efficient educational system,” Monser said.

The new facility will be the largest “Shared Services Center” of Emerson worldwide supporting the company’s key functions in accounting, customer support, finance, information technology, human resources, marketing, and supply chain management.

“This investment is a $20 million investment for us in our largest business platform. It’s just our next investment, not our last and far from our first, as we continue to see opportunities to grow here in the Philippines,” Monser said.

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