Mercedes-Benz to hire more workers to man Cebu office

German Ambassador to the Philippines Thomas Ossowski is the guest speaker of Friday’s Mercedes-Benz Cebu office event. (CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

German automobile maker Mercedes-Benz is eyeing to expand its talent pool in Cebu to include accountancy and finance graduates, a move aimed at further strengthening its foothold in the country.

Heiko Nitsche, chief executive officer of the Mercedes-Benz Group Services Philippines (MBGSP), said he could not say how many more workers they would need in the next few months but he was certain of the need to increase manpower in Cebu.

Nitsche said he was amazed by the positivity and dynamism of the Cebuanos as indicated by the success of their Cebu shared service office located at the Apple One Tower at the Cebu Business Park.

The Cebu office opened in December 2011 with only three persons. It now employs 225 workers who provide financial, accounting and consultancy services to subsidiaries in Germany, the rest of Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the US.

But while Cebuanos are good English speakers, “to become more interesting, they also have to learn to speak German,” Nitsche said in a press conference Friday night.

Nitsche said not all of the executives at their head office in Germany speaks the English language.

He said that an applicant’s capability to also speak German would be an advantage.

German language class
Nitsche said they are now in discussion with at least two universities in Cebu for the inclusion of a German language class in their accountancy and finance courses.

Making Cebuanos multi-lingual is also an advantage in promoting Cebu as a destination for multinational companies that want to open shared service centers in the country.

“We are trying to convince the academe to combine business and economic and language skills,” he said.

Nitsche and German Ambassador to the Philippines Thomas Ossowski led the lighting ceremony of the Mercedes-Benz star at Apple One’s roof deck.

The company was formerly known as Daimler Group Services Philippines. It changed its company name to bank on the popularity of the Mercedes Benz brand name.

Ambassador Ossowski said in a brief message that the Philippines is a strong economic partner because of its impressive growth rate. If government initiatives are sustained, he said  “it will not only be Mercedes-Benz but other German investors will also see a lot of opportunities in the Philippines.”