What is The Call of Call Center Agents?

This is in response to the privilege speech of Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino in the House of Representatives last August 17.

This speech may be in a way an eye opener for people outside of the realms of the BPO industry, but I’m disappointed that it lacks proposals of concrete, temporary or permanent solutions to the problems outlined in his speech. It is also not informative and helpful in any way for us BPO workers.

The PHP15,000 basic pay is indeed above the usual entry level jobs available locally but pay on other offshore destinations are well above our rates here. This is may be due to market forces, as cheap but skilled labor draws BPO investors here in the Philippines. But what I can say is, if we BPO workers would want higher salaries, do we bother upgrade our skills to be more viable for higher pay? Is the present government administration helping us to be competitive by providing free and accessible trainings to further hone our skills and be paid more?. The sad answer is no.

Attrition rates in BPOs are not totally attributable to a negative perspective. Again because of the good opportunities that BPOs offer, workers ‘hop’ to other companies that will offer them the best compensation package that will suit them. A factor mentioned is ‘poor quality of jobs in call centers’ meaning the exploitative side of the job. Being on the phone for almost 8 hours is not easy and stressful. But BPO is not only limited to call centers, there’s back-office, non-voice accounts, transcription, IT, graphic arts and a lot more choices to work for in the BPO industry. The key is that current BPO workers should upgrade their skills and we and the government should be partners in this.

I believe that the call center job is a specialized job, therefore it needs special legislation to protect the welfare of its workers. I suggest the right of the call center agent to go to the restroom even if its queing and not be reprimanded for it. A mandatory gym allowance provided by BPO companies, free multivitamins and HMO benefits from day one. A car plan for every BPO worker to protect them from travelling via public transports that is a danger to their safety. Entrepreneurial seminars for BPO worker to educate them on how to handle hard earned money and to teach them how it make it grow, and a lot more.

In his speech, Rep. Palatino said ‘Nawa’y huwag dumating ang panahon na ang isasagot ng ating mga kabataan sa tanong na “What do you want to be when you grow up?” ay maging isang call center agent’. I just want to say that I don’t see anything wrong working as a call center agent. But I see a lot in your speech, Rep. Palatino.

The call of call center agents: we are working with dignity and we will not stop to provide the needs of our family and shame to those who are in government who are without conscience and squanders with our taxes.

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The Stream Global and eTelecare Merger

May be the biggest BPO industry deal since the ClientLogic-Sitel merger, Stream Global and eTelecare will combine for a 26,000-strong workforce that will span 50 solution centers located in North America, Europe, the Philippines, Latin America, India, the Middle East and Africa.

Ayala Corp. owns eTelecare through it's BPO investment company LiveIt and Stream Global is a premium provider of customer care and business process outsourcing services, a global firm that is a publicly listed company in the United States. (NYSE/AMEX:OOO)

The company will operate under the Stream Global Services name globally, and under the eTelecare brand in the Philippines. eTelecare operates 7 sites and Stream Global have 2 sites in the country and when combined, currently employs 11,500.

This is again a good indication that the Philippines continues to play a big role in the BPO industry and a firm foothold established by Stream Global in the Philippines will pave the way for the company to be a major BPO global presence.

The way I see it, this will offer new exciting opportunities for employment locally and I see this as another significant step forward for BPO industry in the Philippines.

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Global Rankings of the Most Attractive BPO Destinations

Based on global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index (GSLI) latest edition, the Philippines ranked 7th (with a previous rank of 8th) most attractive offshoring destination. I believe this is based on several weighted factors and the three main categories are: financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment.

In the financial attractiveness aspect, I believe BPO employees are still in the lower end, based on salaries being paid compared to our competitors. Chatting with a friend from Hyderabad, India, she receives INR 18,000 basic pay plus allowances and a carpool incentive working as a CSR for a known U.S. company. In comparison, a typical CSR in the Philippines in general earns around PHP 15,000 basic pay plus meager allowances. In my opinion, we are underpaid but we can still maintain good quality of work.

For people and skills availability, I think we are facing a major problem in this aspect as the demand for BPO workers increase but the talents needed for is still short to satisfy the need. The government has a soft stance to fill this need as TESDA, I believe is not reaching as far as it could to properly train the potential workforce. This is evidenced by the emergence of call trainings offered by unscrupulous businesses that promises to train but for a high fee.

In general, I can say business environment is average as different BPO locations in the Philippines are still on its way to become competitive. The stabilty of the Philippine economy I think is still a big question mark for me, as the current government administration in her SONA, continues to lie about the current economic situation of the Philippines.

Placing a respectable 7th in the index only shows that we can do more. I believe the Filipino can be the best, with proper education and knowledge. A really bright future is still ahead and I urge my BPO friends to press on and share what they have learned to aspiring BPO workers and together we will succeed despite of the challenges.

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