Call Center Industry

[Tonyang]

Opinyon lang... call center jobs sa Pinas, a form of exploitation. May grounds tayo para mapatunayan ito? So epekto ba ito ng dependence ng ating ekonomiya sa FIs or foreign investments?

[alex]

Ka Tonyang,

Looks like you got this idea from the commies.

Yes, MNCs exploit the cheap labor of other countires like China, India, Philippines, etc. but at the end of the day it has a positive effect on the host economies like in RP, due to call center industry's boom, property/office demand soars as well as other related services like food service, entertainment, hotel occupancy, tourism etc. Other opportunities also followed due to this opening like BPOs (HRA, design, etc.)

Anyway, its probably easy for us to say that call center job is a form of exploitation since we got better jobs here in Tokyo but those call center agents probably would probably say they got a better deal than assembling laptops for Toshiba or attending rent-a-mob rallies for 300 peso a day.

Alex

[infinite_trial]

hello po ka tonyang. im glad you brought up this topic. when i used to work in a call center i felt i was exploited. workin in a call center put your health at risk. some countries who also have call centers are actually conductin surveys and studies bout to health conditions of people who works as a call center agent.

sana magkaroon tayo ng revised labor code or labor code na angkop sa call center. meron kasing mga rules sa call center na i think wala na sa lugar. like kapag nagkasakit ka, you still have to go there to have yourself checked up by the company nurse and if he/she permits you to rest you can go ahead and go home. so nangyari sakin i have a recurrin case of throat infection. hindi rin gumagaling ang sipon ko. i have to take in an average of 30 calls a day and it's really hard to speak kapag masakit ang throat mo. ang siste, graveyard shift, you still have to go to work and have the nurse check you up. kaso ang gagawin lang ng nurse is give you some temporary medications.

problem pa nun nde ako makapunta sa doctor kagad dahil sa problem nga sa oras. paguwi ko, mas gustuhin ko pang matulog sa layo kasi ng inuuwian. kung hindi pa ko nagkaroon ng anxiety attack nung gabi ay nde ako pagpapahingahin ng TL ko. ang nakakainis pa nito ay nde na ko nakapagexit interview sa company namin para lang mabigyan sya ng feedback.

ang point ko lang sana iba ang regulations nila kasi ang boses mahalaga yun sa job namin. at hindi maiwasan na babalik talaga yun kung hindi ipapahinga, which is in mah case, pinagkait sakin. so i just quit mah job, and i think it was a blessin in disguise na rin dahil kung nde ako nagquit wala ako dito.

[brownman]

IMHO, expoitation or not. first of all, you have the choice of working in a call center industry or not, right? the main reason why a lot of Filipino's choose to work in the call center industry is because of the.... (you guessed it) money, salary, moolahs, datung, pera. the call center industry has helped thousands of Filipino families with their monthly bills and has helped put food on the table.

J.Kerry was against outsourcing because unemployment is also one of problems of the US. i guess i can say that i'm glad he didn't win. just think of it, thousands more getting unemployed all at the same time!

For me, outsourcing is a win-win situation. the company spends less on labor and gets the same results in return the employees are well compensated. just think of it, it only proves that Filipino's are globally competitive. working in a call center industry would also improve your communication skills a lot. ang hirap kasi sa pinas pag nag-english ka sasabihin maarte ka or something. well in fact, we should be thankful that we're able to communicate in english like no other country in Asia can. :)

regarding naman sa health benefits, i'm sorry to hear that you had that kind of experience infinite trial. kasi ako, i just needed to call and say what i had. that's it. kung nirerequire ka pa nila na pumunta ng office para lang macheck ng company nurse, mali nga yon! pa'no kung trangkaso na yon or ibang sakit na grabe, sira ba sila? don sa previous company ko sa pinas,we were given medicards kaya walang problema.

[houseboy]

Opinyon lang... call center jobs sa Pinas, a form of exploitation. May grounds tayo para mapatunayan ito? So epekto ba ito ng dependence ng ating ekonomiya sa FIs or foreign investments?

Opinyon ko rin lang po.

Dependence on FI's? Ang mga FI's ang isa sa mga mahalagang sangkap na nagpapatakbo sa ating ekonomiya. Saan tayo makakakita ng mga malalaking industriya na popondohan ng ating mga mayayamang kababayan? Subukan niyo pong pumunta sa mga Export Processing Zones para malaman niyo kung ilang tao ang natutulungan ng mga Foreign Investors na ito.

Exploitation bang matatawag kapag nakakapagbigay ka ng trabaho? Tama ang sinabi ni Brownman, nasa sa iyo na yun kung gugustuhin mong magtrabaho sa Call Center. Isa pa, unti-unti na namang bumabalik ang pagiging proficient ng mga Pinoy sa Ingles, na isa sa ating kalidad kapag naghanap ng trabaho sa ibang bansa. Hehehehe........:D

Makapag-negosyo nga ng Call Center.:cool:

Peace!!!

[geminigirl]

Opinyon ko rin lang po.

Dependence on FI's? Ang mga FI's ang isa sa mga mahalagang sangkap na nagpapatakbo sa ating ekonomiya. Saan tayo makakakita ng mga malalaking industriya na popondohan ng ating mga mayayamang kababayan? Subukan niyo pong pumunta sa mga Export Processing Zones para malaman niyo kung ilang tao ang natutulungan ng mga Foreign Investors na ito.

Exploitation bang matatawag kapag nakakapagbigay ka ng trabaho? Tama ang sinabi ni Brownman, nasa sa iyo na yun kung gugustuhin mong magtrabaho sa Call Center. Isa pa, unti-unti na namang bumabalik ang pagiging proficient ng mga Pinoy sa Ingles, na isa sa ating kalidad kapag naghanap ng trabaho sa ibang bansa. Hehehehe........:D

Makapag-negosyo nga ng Call Center.:cool:

Peace!!!

Hi friend! Naku magandang negosyo yan. Boom ang Call Center Industry at definitely hindi po na-eexploit ang mga Call Center Agents and mga CSRs. And alam nyo ba na noon may discrimination sa mga Asian CSRs? Kasi dapat magaya yung accent at intonation ng mga puti. But ngayon accepted na sa market ang mga Asyano. When I took the call center training sa People Support in Makati as part of my training sa Ateneo University, though taxing yung work, enjoy naman. At minsan maiimbyerna ka talaga sa mga foreigners na bastos at impertinente. So you must know how to handle the situation. Kahit gusto mong murahin:mad:, di mo magawa kasi iteterminate ka ng supervisor. Monitored lahat ng conversations mo. At shifting ang schedule. Mahirap na masaya ung work.

Pag nagopen ka ng ganyang business apply ako ha! Konnichiwa!:)

[chris_rock]

just my take on the matter...

FI's are always a welcome respite for a country like ours. a very favorable investment climate means jobs, jobs and more jobs (which sadly, the host country can't provide it's citizens) plus all the other trickle-down benefits the economy enjoys. the reason why government gears it's best efforts to promoting/selling itself as a place where investing in a business is a most feasible endeavor.

exploitation...that' s a big word. some may see the call center boom as the shade of positive things to come (depends on which side of the fence you're sitting though). but as in everything else, you have to give some in order to take some.

yes, they're investing a whole lot of money to put up stakes here (but they get a lot of perks like tax shelters in return). yes, they're paying lower wages vis a vis american/european standards (but they have to abide by the stringent labor standards in return). yes, it's relatively easy for a filipino undergrad to get a job in the call center that pays good cash (but he/she has to work long hours and graveyard shifts...and as infinite mentioned, to bear with some lousy company health policy).

but then again, there's always the choice. they chose to invest here. the person chose to take the job they were offering.

so i guess everybody's exploiting everybody in some way or another (some biting off more than the others) :D

[d_southpaw]

yes, it's relatively easy for a Filipino undergrad to get a job in the call center that pays good cash (but he/she has to work long hours and graveyard shifts...and as infinite mentioned, to bear with some lousy company health policy).


Just curious. Regarding the long work hours. Is it a general trend in call center industry ? Are those extra hours paid as overtime ?

About the shifts, I am under the impression that in manufacturing industry, it is also a practice to operate the production line 24hrs a day - which means 2-3 shifts and there are those whose work period falls on strange hours. Similar situation ?

[chris_rock]

usually 8 hour shifts. three 8 hours shifts on a 24 x 7 basis. anything in excess of your regular working shift is considered overtime.

[brownman]

it depends on the company and the client. normally as chris rock said, you're looking at an 8hour shift. there are some clients who offer 12hour shifts, the 4 hours are paid with an overtime rate and you only work 4 times a week. not bad, right? some companies also have incentives for their agents who are able to close new accounts, or if their client/s who upgrade their membership/account, client feedbacks, etc. etc. :)

[mOtt_erU]

....ang opinyon ko,
Maraming naEencourage magtrabaho sa mga Call Centers dahil sa magandang kyuryoo o Salary ..starting pa lang daw eh medyo mataas na compare daw sa futsu na shigoto.
Kaso totoong maraming Call Center Agents na at Risk ang kalusugan...yung iba nakakailang kape sa maghapon para hindi lang daw makaramdam ng Antok/ nemukunaranai te koto...o kumakain ng takusan chocolates sa parehong rason din...
Okey lang naman ang ganitong klase ng trabaho...nasa tao naman yan kung paano niya mapapangalagaan ang sarili niya lalo na ang kalusugan niya.