Manila’s 5th Gift to the World: Our Voice
Manila’s “voice” is in reference not to the Manilenyo’s incredible talent for singing, not in this post at least. Instead let’s consider what the world has been given by our people: the rapidly growing industry of call centers.
As I had rationalized to fellow MBM authors, the call center may be, to us, a double-edged sword. Many people disapprove of the trend because night shifts are harmful to the health, because employees don’t do anything but answer phone calls, because there can’t possibly be any dynamic career growth, and so on. But there’s no denying how reassuringly our voice has served the rest of the world. There’s no doubt as to what our workforce has meant to countries outsourcing their business processes here.
The industry has also provided hundreds and thousands of Filipinos with well-paying jobs, aside from contributing significantly to our GNP and bringing new life to the services sector. And while the possibilities aren’t obvious now, other countries will sooner or later explore new investment opportunities in the Philippine metro (maybe something beyond customer and technical support, let’s hope). It’s bound to happen - after all, investors love the work ethic, the hospitality, the talent, and the versatility of each and every Juan dela Cruz. Even top-computer maker Dell, Inc. has seen fit to bring two sites here in Manila.
Who’ll be next and what is next, I don’t know. But we’ve definitely made our voices heard, and the world is listening with a satisfied smile.
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being (currently) a US-based pinoy, I can’t tell you how delighted I am when i hear a pinoy on the other end of a customer service line. maybe I am culturally-biased but I swear the pinoy smile comes through the line.
i don’t know about “bad for the health” -what the call centers are doing (along with our Pinoy diaspora) is integrating us more extensively into the global economy.
from a life-in-the-city perspective, the BPO economy is also turning Metro Manila into a 24-hour city. –longer retail hours also mean more income for our small and medium size business.
what we really need to develop are ways to channel the income from BPO employees (personal income) into capital formation activities — not just into the consumer market.
Hi Urbano!
Although I don’t work in a call center, I have nothing against it. I know plenty of people who are enjoying their careers working as call center employees, and not just for the money. I share the same sentiments you have, and continue to hope that good capital will be made out of the trend.
Cheers! =)
This isn’t about our talent for singing? I was just about to comment on how too many foreigners, upon learning I’m from the Philippines, ask me for a song number . =)
The BPO industry is certainly a boom to our economy, so much so that supply can’t keep with demand.
I think the challenge is to use this to propel a better self-sustaining economy. I think call centers are great. They certainly employ a lot of people. But I wonder how long will it take before other countries catch up in terms of english proficiency and snatch the contracts from us. History has shown that we tend to be complacent and self-destructive. It hasn’t been that long that the country is among the top tourist destinations in Asia. Not anymore. The lack of good infrastructure, efficient land, water and air transportation systems, dependable services like water and electricity, plus political turmoil have landed us on the most avoided tourist destinations. Also, we’re no longer a strong contender in terms of foreign investment. The foreign companies have pulled out or bypast us due to again, all those mentioned reasons plus the misplaced nationalistic pride. Be sensible, we need foreign investment as capital. Look at China and other countries, they welcome foreign investments, but impose certain restrictions and condictions so they learn from these foreign companies and are able to adapt the better practices to their local companies. And now they’re buying up foreign companies. Anyhow, didn’t mean to turn this into a lecture. But I just want to pose this challenge- how do we best turn this economic opportunity into a lasting impact on our economy? We should not let the companies move the call centers elsewhere or if that happens, we should have something better pumping our economy. Let’s not rest on small victories…