The Philippines ranks second to India when it comes to outsourcing in this side of the world. In recent years, numerous call centers have sprung up in major cities nationwide offering jobs to thousands of Filipinos especially fresh graduates. Together with the overwhelming phenomenon are a number of issues concerning health, ethics and sustainability. Despite these however, I believe that the rise of the call center industry is the best thing that’s ever happened to the Filipinos and the Philippine economy in recent history. In 2009, the call center industry incurred around $5 billion in revenues and is expected to double in the year 2010.
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Call centers provide employment to more than 400,000 Filipinos. Most call center agents or customer service representatives are fresh graduates, professionals and working students. Call centers provide an opportunity for students to earn money to support their education and help their families. This is due to flexible work schedules, perfect especially for college students who do not have a rigid school schedule. The academic requirement of call centers allow these students to acquire employment while still in school.
Some argue that call centers become dump sites for unemployed professionals resulting in a brain drain or a displacement of skills. Taking the thousands of unemployed nurses in the Philippines for example, the lack of opportunities for them to work in hospitals pushes them to go into call centers and earn money. This seems a much better alternative than have our nurses stay home doing nothing and wasting their skills and time away. Others may say they can go into volunteering in rural communities to increase their competence. While this may be good and noble, we have to face the fact that Filipinos need money to support their daily needs and volunteering for little or no salary at all just doesn’t cut it for those families going hungry with children who can barely go to school.
Call centers bank on the English proficiency Filipinos have been known for. Its people are resources just as important and useful to the Philippines as its natural bounty. With English as a major language in the country, it is no wonder that call centers are a big hit with Filipinos. This propelled the enhancement of the English curriculum in all levels of the academe. The Commission on Higher Education claimed that such developments in the English programs are to increase competency of graduates in the global arena. This is a motivation for students to maximize their full potentials because they are being equipped with skills that could ensure them employment after they graduate. It is not merely learning, they are actually being prepared for the future, an earning future.
Call centers help in improving the Philippine economy. The numerous call centers in the Philippines incurring revenues of more than $2 billion each every year affect significantly the country’s gross national product. As of the moment, with the jobs it provides, taxes from thousands of Filipinos used to fund government projects come in bigger values. (If these taxes actually go to government projects is a different paper altogether.) Looking into its effects on the market, the employment it provides gives more people buying power. With such power, goods and services do not remain stagnant in the market because more people can avail and have the means to pay for them. In a nutshell, call centers do not only affect GNP but play a big part in ensuring the continuity in the flow of goods and services.
Among other industries in the Philippines, the reason why the call center industry is the most popular is because of high pay for minimal capital requirements. It feeds on the Filipinos’ ability to adjust and to sacrifice for the sake of providing better for their loved ones. There may be risks in call center jobs, more emotional and physical rather than situational, but these are no match to what one can get in his paycheck. It is the easy way out, the immediate answer to the prayer of a better today. What the Filipinos need at this time of crisis is something that will assure them food on their table everyday. And knowing Filipinos ingenuity, they will be able to find a way to turn the hazards into even more opportunities.
For this government, seeing the benefits its people can get out of this industry, they could use this to their full potential. Invest more and provide bigger, better benefits, improve the competency of their representatives, ensure a safe and healthy environment addressing any risks linked to health due to lifestyle. They can improve a lot of lives by providing more jobs. We are looking into a gateway to the future. We cannot turn our backs now.
