Lungga ni Aye

Sunday, 24 February 2008

Thank you for calling, Have a Great Day!

I JUST joined a forum based locally and found a thread about how dehumanizing the BPO Industry is. Coming from a BPO firm myself, it caught my attention. The author of the thread based the proposition from an article published by Sunstar Cebu (I didn't see a by-line).

The writer of the article described the graveyard shifts, modifiable hours of duty and compulsory overtime as dehumanizing. One of the members of the forum reacted on this, arguing that it required graveyard shifts only because that is what the job requires and the services are catered to the western hemisphere.

That member gave a little thought on how the writer defines an outsourcing firm. Point is, of course the author is aware of that and that’s what he actually condemns - system of the BPO Industry itself.

There was a post about how graduates of top universities ended up as a call center agents. I thought there was a sentiment on the country's state but he said he wouldn't let his children go to a top university and just work for a BPO - it's ok if they'd be consultants for setting up the firm, but definitely not an organic employee.

I find irony on that as he'd been raising concerns on how dehumanizing the BPO industry is but he thinks it's ok to be one of the people setting up a dehumanizing firm.

The thread wasn't exactly an eye-opener to me. I have known the dark sides of the "sunshine industry" even before I worked for one.

The speed of career growth and so is the salary may be indeed attractive - at least to a Filipino worker, but the truth is that this country is a haven of cheap labor and the foreign investors are enjoying it.

"Companies served by call centers pay in dollars, and the measly wage of $6-$10 a night, given the high peso-to-dollar exchange rate, is an offer too good for most Filipinos to pass up. This, however, remains a far cry from the wages received by their American counterparts, which are around 80 percent higher"

- Graveyard Shift

BY Michaela Papa and Jerrie M. Abella, PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN, Vol. VII. No. 26, August 5-11, 2007

When I was in college, I've read from a local paper that a prominent labor union encouraged call center agents to demand what is due to them - a salary that would equate that of an American agent. Although I agree that the BPO's are taking advantage of the cost of our human resource, that cry would be next to impossible. As I have mentioned, the salary from a BPO is attractive to a Filipino - that's because the cost of living is primarily considered. If a BPO would spend as much as what they used to compensate the Americans, then they wouldn't go for outsourcing to begin with.

The real dark side of the BPO industry are not the layoffs, not the graveyard shifts, not the modifiable hours of duty and definitely not the salary - as all of these are mere clichés of capitalism. Dehumanizing? Yes. That's its nature. But when we isolate the BPO industry and in this country's context, I would say it's the brain drain.

UP, Ateneo, La Salle and other top university graduates, even nurses, professors, engineers go to this industry that only requires them to speak the language and learn technical skills far from the philosophy of their education. That's because this country cannot provide us an employment that would allow us to practice our respective fields - and if there is, the pay cannot sustain a decent living (sufficiently large to enable a worker to provide comfortably for his family and have savings).

"Often we say we make our choices. But do we have a choice when in the middle of the crisis the quickest and easiest way out stands right before us? Sadly, we can compare ourselves to pimps and whores because we sell our intellectuals, our manpower, and our pride to the global market for a very cheap price—because in essence we don’t have a choice."

The Person at the Other End of the Line, Maricar Cinco, BULATLAT (2007)

Cinco hit the bull's eye.. and it made me smile.

I am Sykes('s little whore).

posted by: ayesha at 03:33 | link | comments |

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Family Visit

MY FATHER came to visit my bro and I last weekend. My mom arrived 2 days ahead of him. My other brother sent me an email last night asking how our semi-reunion was (the other half are some place else).

My father called up my sister and she was with her daughter. Her daughter.. my niece talked to me. She said "Tita Pajamas? I remember you!!!"

Oh well.. father mother brother sister happy brush your teeth. Er er er er freeerr fee fie foe fuhm, I smell the blood of an English man.

But anyway, my dad made my brother and I sit and listen to how Lozada got abducted and made us aware of the ZTE Scandal. My mom thinks it's a shame our lives have fallen to apathy. She thinks it's funny too.. I must agree.

Ang May Sala

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Thank you for calling, Have a Great Day!

posted by: ayesha at 03:33 | link | comments |

Family Visit

posted by: ayesha at 08:09 | link | comments |

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