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02/1102015 – Manila | The battle over Call Center superiority is over and the Philippines has emerged as the victor. In a recent report by LA Times, the Philippines has become the new “Call Center Capital” of the World”, overtaking India by a wide margin.
As of February 2015, there are more than 1 million Filipinos working in call centers enjoying at least 18,000 pesos a month salary.
“The combination of cheap labor and specialized skills has made the Filipino workforce invaluable to a growing list of U.S. companies, which use them to field customer complaints, generate sales leads, code data, format documents, and read medical scans and legal briefs,” the report said.
India is still the leader in information technology and software, but the Philippines is dominating the business process outsourcing sector, an industry bigger than information technology.
“India may have hundreds of thousands of software engineers and programmers, but Philippines has millions of young people who can speak fluent English and can handle all types of angers”, Teletech Supervisor John Agpas told TPP.
The Philippines’ BPO industry is contributing a bigger slice in the country’s economy and young graduates are now provided with the work of their choice.
The English spoken by Filipinos is closer to Americans’ than in India. “Our culture is very similar,” said Fred Chua, a lifelong Manila resident who runs a call center. A cousin in San Francisco drums up business for the company, Magellan Solutions. “We don’t yell on the phone often. We’re very customer-centric,” Chua said.
It is good to hear that the Philippines is dominating the BPO market but not all working class people are happy with it. Roderick Pastoral, a former call center worker for 8 years-turned businessman said, he will never ever work in a call center again.
“Call center job is for people who have no choice. It’s the last resort to feed yourself and your family. Call centers are not real companies. They are manpower agencies and you can be fired anytime without getting a warning”, Pastoral said.
“I was a Manufacturing Engineer for 5 years before I broke my legs in a car crash. I had no option so I had to endure everything, even working on graveyard shift for six months. The working environment in manufacturing companies is far different from Call Centers. Working in a Call center is lifeless”, pastoral added.
“Aside from getting a better pay, there is no benefit from working in a call center, as one can’t learn a real skill”, Pastoral further noted.
“Call Center jobs are jobs for all though. Regardless of your college degree, you can work as long as you pass the training and can handle irate customers”, Call center Agent Marisa Lagarto said.
“Americans prefer Filipino English accent than the hard Indian accent that’s why American, British, New Zealand, and Australian companies prefer Philippines as the place to process business”, British Sky Broadband Manager John Wells told TPP.
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/Fanny Jalacjac/ Assisted Press Manila