Starting the BPO Industry from Scratch

Thank you for the story Senator Mar!

1. What do I think?
First of all, we should educate people to get involve in industries so they can make more good decisions. Our country is facing many problems and education is one of them. If you ask any employer in a company he or she will likely hire someone with good education background comparing to someone who did not even finish college.

In this article, you mentioned various companies all over the world competing each other. How can our industries 'surpass' them if some people can't make good decisions. Overall, our govenment should invest in education because it is everybody's rights to learn and make good decisions.

2. How should government treat the industry in 2010? Why?
Yes, because investing in our local industries impacts our country's benefits. If many companies are successful many people will have jobs. It will LIMIT our competition with others if our country focus locally because we won't face 'bigger' problems. For example, Mr. Senator.. If our country is worrying about too much foreign companies how can we guide and promote our local companies? I'm not saying there's special treatment but.. We should take care of our own industries before worrying about others. In Tagalog, Tayo-tayo lang naman sa huli ang nagtutulungan diba?

In conclusion,
1. Education should be the main focus because it helps people make good and wiser decisions
2. Promote local industries first before others because it impacts our society in general.

Thank you Sen. Mar

The Call Center industry here in CEBU is such a boom. Thank you for being an instrument in making me part of the industry.

I think it is best to actually improve the quality of education in this country and to control certain educational institutions in really improving a person's life with financial literacy included not just us being made and goaded into corporate slavery. We actually need companies that are the equivalent of Japanese Zaibatsus if we want to compete. But we should first focus in crushing the negative parts of the Filipino mindset, eradicate the TRAPOS and their cronies (which I deem near-impossible), and in all honesty, have companies that match our skill set or courses. Though I know it is idealistic, we should not rely on BPOs in the long-term but rather use it as steppingstones as we establish a strong foundation in how we will be able to regain the freedom we have. I have seen other nationalities but inasmuch as the government is that much of a roadblock to our overall potential, we are still superior to other countries in a sense that we can endure and learn almost anything. So if we will take this into account, the best thing to do is we can deviate from the BPO industry because we kept relying too much on it and find a niche from where we can start, improve, dominate and pioneer into something that we can say that it came from us.

On the contrary Roxanne, a lot of BPO companies employ people who only finished their second or third year in college and have managed to climb up the corporate ladder and be successful compared to someone who finished college. This does not mean that we encourage that the youth drop out from college and work for the call center. This only means that the government cannot support the majority of the youth to finish their studies until college. Also, the BPO industry has been focusing more on performance of an employee and not the educational background, something that the foreign nationals practice when they set-up their companies here. This means that a college drop-out can outperform a degree holder from schools like DLSU, Ateneo, UP, UST, FEU, etc, something that local companies look at when hiring employees. If you look at the classified ads, a lot of companies have specific qualifications for positions like a graduate of the top 4 universities in the metro. I don't blame them. Who they're looking for is blessed with parents who can support them until they graduate in college, even graduate studies. This is a challenge to those who are running for office for 2010. Education should be their top priority. If we equip our youth with right education, then we can provide better jobs for them. Betters jobs not only mean good positions but also better compensation. How many of our skilled teachers, nurses, doctors who decide to go abroad instead of serving their country? It's because the compensation they get here does not match their skills.

Regarding your question, Mr. Senator, the government should provide the support that the BPO industry needs, like education, training, and security. I am from the BPO industry and am thankful that there are companies who encourage their undergrad employees to continue their education and support them through financial assistance. My collegues and I sometimes ask ourselves where the taxes that we paid went to and how the government spent them. Was it part of the lavish dinner in the US or the many trips that the President made? Or was it used to improve the basic services like transportation, health, etc.? This is our challenge to those running for office this 2010.

I am so proud to be part of the team, Sen. Mar. I still have with me the memo you sent me and Mulong commending us for the assistance that we extended to one of the very first BPO investors that set up shop in the Philippines. Now that I had retired from government service to migrate here in the USA, I always feel good knowing that I, along with you, Usec. Domingo, ED Binggay and STR Mulong, were able to make a difference in the lives of the Filipinos now employed in the call center industry.

How should government treat the industry in 2010? Why?

1. The govt should do more for the BPO employees not just look and focus at bringing in more BPO business here. What good would that do if the BPO employee turn-over rate is at a high 50+% and BPO applicants acceptance rate is at 2-8%? The recognized backbone of the industry should always be a major priority to keep those people already working in it and to encourage more to apply.

2. The govt should also focus on bringing in more non-voice related BPO-type of work here. Not all graduates are cut out to be call center agents. However, back-end clerical work, medical transcriptioning, knowledge processing and and the like are better fit for our current graduates. This should allow applicants more options in choosing a career path that is better related to their inclinations.

3. The govt should also think about how it can slowly and unobtrusively include BPO-related subjects in higher education. This may raise objections to some but the reality is most of are graduates currently end up either going abroad or working in BPO companies. Providing BPO-related subjects in college should better prepare graduates in the likelihood they may enter this industry. It should also increase their understanding of how the industry works and graduates/BPO applicants acceptance rates in the future.

4. The govt should closely monitor labor-related issues within BPO companies. NLRC records show BPO companies as an industry, has been the biggest offender and it has become very alarming.

5. The govt should also look at the sustainability of the BPO industry in terms of infrastructure and business friendliness. The Philippines, despite being a major BPO destination, has been lagging behind India, China and other BPO destination in terms of technological infrastructure and operations-friendliness. Think scalability.

6. The government must encourage more BPO companies to bring their business to the provinces so we can offer the same employment opportunities to our countrymen in the rural areas. At the same time, we should also be developing MORE tech hubs in the provinces so BPO companies will be encouraged to relocate.

7. The government should also look at standardization of salaries and benefits for BPO employees. Salary issues are fast becoming a serious concern which experts say is leading the industry into unsustainability. Its not going to be a popular issue especially those who are already enjoying high salaries but it is a necessary one.

8. The govt should create a task force that deals with research on our BPO employees. So much have been said about how the BPO industry has brought good business to the nation through our workers but no one has even paid attention to doing official studies on how BPO employees are coping, behaving, and conducting themselves inside and outside of work. The govt should create a body that can do scientific research so they can address their issues better and anticipate their needs for the future.

9. The government should guarantee a safe environment for the BPO workers to ensure they get to work safely even in unusual hours of the day.

10. The govt should conduct regular forums for ordinary BPO employees to learn from their experiences, know what their needs are and create an open channel of communications between them.

I am one of the very satisfied customers of AT&T in the Bay Area, largely because of the excellent customer service provided by their Philippine call center. Mind you, I don't look at the color or rather the accent but just their overall knowledge and professionalism in dealing with difficult customers. Wow, Filipino call center staff of AT&T – you are amazing!

Thank you Paul for sharing your views. I must agree with you because we have very hardworking people in the Philippines.

Yes, education should be the government's top priority.

Hi Idol! Sykes Asia started in 1997. Thanks!

And let me just say that I have mixed emotions with the call center industry boom that we are now experiencing.

I have worked for this industry for 5 years, and I am grateful for the amount of experience that I have learned. I was also able to live a good life and was able to travel because of my high salary. However, having a very comfortable job in this industry meant that I didn't have the motivation to finish my bachelors degree. BPOs boast in an equal-employment opportunity, though I felt that that opportunity is now being misused by majority of its undergraduate workforce – why finish my school when i can make it through this industry?

A lot has been said about the benefits of the call industry but things should be for the benefit of both parties concerned. I have been working for more than ten (10) years in the banking industry before joing the BPO and it was only there that I got sick. Government needs to take care of the health benefits of employees. It is my first time to experience combining both the vacation and sick leave to fifteen (15) working days and it is a sin to get sick. Inspite of submitting all the documentation that I got sick in work from doctors, the company still issued me a memo and threatened to terminate me. The working conditions and environment also needs to be improved, they are serving bottomless iced tea and coffee for people who speak an average of 8 hours a day, doctors would say that we should only drink lukewarm water to avoid getting laryngitis or reflux.
Instead of hiring more people, they require us to do overtime work almost everyday and even shorten our lunch breaks to 30 minutes. The labor code is being violated more often than being observed due to business reasons. It's all about profit – most of the money generated is sent back to their home country of origin. With your leadership, hope you can help us enjoy the benefits of working in our own country and being regulated by local laws and not by the laws of another country. There is also no doctor assigned in the clinic during the graveyard shift, only during the day shift where there is lesser number of employees working since most of the accounts are either based in the US or Europe. Thank you in Advance.

good morning Senator. for a privilege person who has a talent in english whether is it for writing or speech such endeavor and development is very promising, but to the less focal person in english such ambition in the BPO industry is just a dream? can we have a Tag lish or Tagalog BPO here in our country?

I think the government should focus on securing the rights and benefits of the people employed in the BPO sector. e.g. security of tenure, medical insurance, etc.

Hi titaregina

Thanks for the comment. Although we believe that what Senator Roxas meant was that it was only in the year 2000 that Sykes started to become a household name in callcenters in the Philippines, in spite of its 1997 roots. It was only in 2000 that Sykes had a substantial number of agents at 600, where in 1997 it only had 16, according to href=”http://ph.sykes.com/about_sykes.html?x=about”

Thanks for the comment Ms. Angelica We shall relay your sentiments to Senator Roxas. We hope you continue to enjoy visiting the site and supporting Mar's cause.

we owe it to you then, I'm a proud call gurl.. lol

Dear Sir and all,

I would like to thank Call Center Blogger for bringing this issue up:

4. The govt should closely monitor labor-related issues within BPO companies. NLRC records show BPO companies as an industry, has been the biggest offender and it has become very alarming.

I just filed my complaint with NLRC against my former company for my being terminated and I am seeking a good pro bono lawyer . I was one of those who started way back when the industry was just starting to boom and I have worked my way up the ladder. But being the only woman in upper management, I also worked up a lot of envy and I dare say, there is a different kind of political arena out there. The boom allowed investors to invest in our country but there are also unethical foreign companies who are not paying the surety bond and asking Filipino nationals to be named as the owner just so they could set up business here. They were given 0% VAT as incentive and they took advantage of some of our countrymen by not giving them security of tenure and the way that employees were treated was much worse because you are not dealing with Sykes here or Convergys but smaller unknown call centers run by Foreign Asian Nationals who are used to mistreating our domestic helpers. Turnover of managers and agents alike is very fast and reason for termination or separation for just cause is not even justified. Quoting from the labor code but not really realizing that it's inappropriate, just because management says so, their HR department will just comply and then they'll offer forced resignation. This should also be looked at and the government should review these companies too. Concentrating on the big leagues may not be enough as the smaller ones also employ those who couldn't pass the more stringent requirements of the bigger BPOs.

My quest for justice will be long but it will be worth it. If you can also recommend me to a good pro bono lawyer, I would really appreciate it.

Sir, since you are supporting the BPO industry can we also ask for your support on the 2nd Call Center Olympics? We open April 10.

hi sir, i worked in a call center before but now i am having a dream of having one also, owned and operated by Filipinos. Offering services to multinational companies just like what the big fishes in the industry are already doing. Do you think we Filipinos, with the help of the government, could really attain this dream? If yes, how can we aspiring businessmen rely on the government as a stable back up for the growth of our own?

Hi Senator Mar,

I'm Tom Noda, reporter of Computerworld Philippines and a member of the IT Journalist Association of the Philippines (ITJAP) aka CyberPress.

I'd like to hear a feedback from you as supporters of the pending DICT bill are pointing at you for the bill's delayed approval in the Senate. These people are from CICT, BPAP, CCAP etc.

They said you and Senator Santiago registered for the bill's interpolation last year, but there is still no word from you on the issue since last Wednesday's session.

Questions:
1. Is it true that you are just trying to block the bill's passage into law?
2. Do you have objections on the DICT bill? How come you're not doing yet your interpolation on the matter?
3. What can you say to the private sectors that clamor for a DICT in the Philippines?
4. Since you registered for interpolation on the bill, what is your plan for the bill?

That would be all Mr. Senator.

Regards,

Tom S. Noda
Reporter
Computerworld Philippines
09189071247

hi
in regards to the comments on the callcenter industry much has been said regarding the equal opportunities for career and monetary compensation but what about the health hazards such as laryngitis stress and heart conditions arising from working in the industry what do you propose to do to look out or the common workers

I think we should focus to getting the core-work instead of the non-core/repetitive work.

I'm currently part of the BPO industry, and I see great potential in co-workers and doing non-core work is not able to maximize their potential. I think that the long term of our BPO industry should focus on getting the core work as well.

I totally agree with you Mr. M. We really do have to establish our own industry and must not rely on jobs multinational companies give us. Although these jobs translate to billions of pesos for our country,these are not enough in order to industrialize our country. We should put on our own industries and focus on technologies that will yield higher productivity and increase our output. This will enable us to compete with our neighbor countries and will definitely benefit us at the long run.

It’ll be approximately 10 years since we took that plunge. It took two strategic phases to enable the
BPO sectors to grow to the state its in today.

“do we compete on the software writing level? Or do we blaze a trail for customer service? As a fresh DTI Secretary, I did a bit of research and I can tell you with certainty that we lacked the manpower to do the first. “

I hate to disagree with you but as far as I know, we don't. There are topnotch Filipino software developers out there. Not to mention the people doing SEO (search engine optimization). What they do? They are working as Independent Contractors for foreign clients. No taxes, flexible hours, in the comfort of their homes. They are earning at least 30k Php per month per client. Sweet! Why I know that? Because I'm one of them
These people came from BPO companies owned by foreign people using Filipino “dummies” as owners of their business. They resigned because the companies are just giving them like 15k Php for their services. But their jobs are not so stable. They are still looking for a more stable work.

Why don't the government come up with a plan to utilize the skills of those “hidden” people? I think the government has the capability to put up an organization like what the BPO's are doing– catering the needs of foreign clients in the IT industry and employing Filipino workers. The government can benefit greatly from this and also the people.

There is also program conducted by TESDA which teaches programming to students for free but I tell you, the technologies, programming languages being offered are already deprecated, obsolete. Still of little to no use. I know it because I am a trainer also. I tried to approach the management of the school offering the program but they say that it's the head office (TESDA) that is designing the program. No luck.

This is just my personal view. You are free to post your comment

Thank you Senator Mar,
We appreciate every job that can be created that doesn't require splitting up families or taking risks in war torn countries. The government should continue to assist in skills training for this industry, regardless of wether it is for multi-national or local BPO employers. We need to continue to stress the development of our language proficiency, our service orientation, our cheerful rapport, our innovation in software technology, our team spirit

I like your vision Mr. Roxas about the BPO Industry. But what about the other call centers that are..let's say taking advantage of the industry..such as low pay..more than 8 hours of work..etc. I hope there should be some sort of remedy for this to avoid abusive companies. And I know some of the companies who are like that. Is there anyway that we can avoid this since a lot of people is in the industry right now?

sobrang liit ng sahod sa sykes!

Well said – I'm totally with you on this topic. Without much fun fare, global marketing and globe trotting, the Philippines became a natural choice and a preferred destination by Global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies today. This phenomenon came about just through word of mouth from existing BPO players in the country. After setting their back offices in country BPO global players learned from their back office experiences how world class the Filipinos were when it comes to the voice services. BPO companies realized how Filipinos were excellent in their command of fluent English with a neutral accent.

Tina

gud day Mr. M im bruce bactol 1of the millions fan in the world……. if kung pwde po sna gus2 ko po snang mk2long s inyo at sa mamamayang pilipino, kung inyong mamarapatin at pagbibigyan ang aking munting kahilingan,,, gus2 ko sanang magtrabaho sa ilalim ng inyong pamumuno, ngaun po s darating na eleksyon, di pa man po nag-uumpisa ang botohan, binabati ko npo kau, for new vice president of the
philippines,, 2010 kahit nung mangyari, di ako magbabago, kaw parin ung Mar Roxas n kilala ko, na may kakayahan sa lahat ng bagay, at may puso para sa kapwa pilipino… gudlck, more power, more blessing,
good carrer,and godblss us…………………………………

this is my email add. brucebactol@yahoo.com.ph

plzzz…… if u see the simple message,, plzz help me pass this message in mar roxas twitter or anything… plzzzzzzz,,,,, tnhk's and gdblssss…

Support local companies who are making bold steps to penetrate this arena (eg. like ours). Leaders and stakeholders in our local IT services company can easily find jobs abroad and work for the big bucks foreign companies can offer. But here we are, 10 years in the making, still holding our fort for our ambitious dream to spark change in our society by championing spirit of entrepreneurship among us Pinoys. So that we can keep the best talents to work not for some foreign enterprise but for our dear Pilipinas. Wouldn't it be nice to work for a Pinoy global IT/Services company with the same perks as working for a foreign one? Big dream.

Sykes started 1997 in the Philippines. Yes, there's Sykes in the year 2000.

India’s BPO industry has evolved and matured to present higher-end services that require judgment-based analysis and domain expertise, rather than function-specific, rules-based performance parameters alone. As service providers strive to offer end-to-end services, we see BPO falling into different segments. At one end of the spectrum is the traditional rules-based transactional outsourcing; while at the other end is judgment-based transaction processing and full-service business process outsourcing.

India has won its spurs as the world’s outsourcing destination of choice. Currently the country has a commanding share of the global outsourcing market.

India is undoubtedly the most favored IT/BPO destination of the world. This raises the question why most of the big MNCs are interested in outsourcing their operations to BPOs in India. The answer is very simple- India is home to large and skilled human resources. India has inherent strengths, which have made it a major success as an outsourcing destination. India produces the largest number of graduates in the world. The name of India has become synonymous with that of BPOs and IT industry hence the name BPO India.

Besides being technically sound, the work force is proficient in English and work at lower wages in comparison to other developed countries of the world. India also has a distinct advantage of being in a different time zone that gives it flexibility in working hours. All these factors make the Indian BPOs more efficient and cost effective. In order to meet the growing international demand for lucrative, customer-interaction centers, many organizations worldwide are looking to BPO India.
A subset of outsourcing, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) involves contracting the operations and responsibilities through a third party service provider. From the last couple of years, the BPO industry has evolved as the most substantial sector in the Indian market. India has emerged as the most favored location for all Bpo services across the globe. This has accelerated the Indian economy to the heights, progressively boosting the statistics depicting the growth in the years to come and it has been however forecasted that by 2020, more than 80% of the world of business process outsourcing services will be served by the Indian companies. Marked as the best place to attain superior quality services globally, the BPO industry is strengthening its foundation in India.

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Call center and telemarketing really give a lot of good opportunity for all unemployed in any part of country around the world and good benefits also.