I have been working for a contact center for four years, I don’t know if that’s a big deal or not, but here in our country, this is the most lucrative industry pulling in around 3.4 billion pesos (around USD75M) in 2005 and is 
expected to double in the next four years.
This industry seems to be at least a partial solution to the ever growing problem of employment, wherein each company hoards in as much as 200-300 agents in a span of 3-4 months, and that’s only for a single client, and each company has at least 3-5 clients to serve. Last I checked, we curently have more or less 75 call centers here in Manila. So, yes they do help lessen the unemployment rate to some extent.
True enough the youth here saw this as a fashion statement and a lifestyle very different from what they have experienced before. And this made them into another being, giving life and light to the night. Establishments saw a boom when the Call Center industry started to come alive, bars, clubs and disco houses were full to the rafters as the era saw the rebirth of social Filipino youth. Even during the day, some of these shops were still open to serve those that has just came off from their shift to grab a booze and relax a bit, before they head home to sleep.
Indeed, it is a great industry where you can earn money way above, what the government calls, the minimum wage, along with a couple of privileges and benefits on the side, this soon sounded like the perfect job for every Filipino. Even Headhunters (firms that acts as recruitment) saw this as a golden opportunity. On the classifieds section of the sunday paper, there are several institutions that are now offering call center training and extends their services to find the right company for you, and I heard on the local news, that the government is planning to incorporate it in the university curriculum by next school year.
The reason that we have this on our shores, is because, its really cheap to get this kind of work here. In reality, the salary that we’re getting paid here in a month, is equivalent to a day’s work onshore (the US or any other country that outsources here). And that’s actually their main purpose. to cut costs, literally, hundreds were laid off because of outsourcing and a lot of us Asians benefitted from it, but what do you think would happen in the coming years as other countries that carries cheaper price tags, opens up their doors to outsourcing.
So if we want to keep their business, mind your tongues and learn the skills of the trade. Check my future posts here, I will share with you my experiences and secrets on how to become visible and successful in this career.
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
