CALL CENTERS: Labor Unions are watching...

[omad]

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those people who work at these call centers should be heard.. what's their view about:

...but when there is less or no production Forced Indefinite Leave sad. Remember that there are always 2 sides to a coin.

and all the other issues regarding this topic. let's hear from those who work in call centers..

[LytSlpr]

sus mabayaran ramana ang mga leaders sa labor unions then mahilom rana sila... walay ayo. kung dili mo ganahan mo trabaho sa call center, pangapply nalang mo sa jollibee ug manager...

ang atong politicians di'ay, wa bayri ug lump sum so that they can exploit our human resources? the managers of these centers wa di'ay bayri sa owners to become modern day egyptians to man the building of their pyramids (business)?!

again, there are always 2 sides to a coin. or shall i say 2 sides to a blade.

[brian_d]

KMU, Teamsters gang
up on call centers



FILIPINO leftists have found common cause with American unions—including some shady ones, targeting the relatively recent phenomenon of business process outsourcing (BPO) as exemplified by the dozens of call centers that have sprung up in the Philippines. While local Left-wingers dismiss call-center jobs as demeaning for their countrymen, the US unionists are angry that those jobs are going to foreigners like Filipinos and Indians.

A relatively recent phenomenon, call centers serve the information needs of the predominantly American customers of various businesses. They can do so thanks to the digitization of global telecommunications. Call centers in the Philippines now employ about 80,000 English-speaking Filipinos—and that figure is projected to grow further. The call centers reportedly generated some $1 billion last year. However, that is not good enough for some quarters.

The Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bayan Muna and similar organizations have condemned the BPO industry as a “hub for exploitation.� They dismiss work in contact centers as “dead-end jobs.� They point out that while call-center workers in Manila are each paid a monthly salary of about P15,000 their American counterparts get the equivalent of about P40,000.

A KMU spokesman was recently quoted as saying: “With the same amount of work, our call-center workers are receiving a lot less. This cost-saving measure means greater profit for [BPO] like the call-center industry but translates to greater exploitation for poor countries like the Philippines.�

In an ideal world a Filipino in, say, Cebu doing the same kind of work as his US counterpart in Michigan ought to get the same wages. If that were the case, however, foreign BPO companies would have no incentive to set up shop in the Philippines. Given the numerous hassles of operating overseas, the American owners of these businesses would prefer not to leave home.

But since there are enough Filipinos who can do the work of their American counterparts for a fraction of US wages, American and other BPO companies have found that by operating their call centers from out of the Philippines they can maximize their profits. And profit is what business is all about, right?

Besides, it is not as though the Philippines were the only country where call centers have been springing up like the proverbial mushrooms. In India, BPO investments sunk in by American and other companies are much larger.

The Filipino leftists’ campaign against call centers is supported by major US unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (wink, wink) and American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), which have been pressing for mainly state laws that would regulate outsourcing, if not ban it outright.

According to former ABS-CBN correspondent Mike Cohen, who is developing a story on the subject for an international news organization, India is the real target of the American unionists, but “you can expect some backlash for the BPO industries in the Philippines.�

To date, Cohen reports, over 30 American states have proposed legislation that would bar their state governments from contracting or subcontracting services from companies that employ people who are not American citizens.

Cohen quotes Mary Bottari of Public Citizen—a policy watchdog set up by US consumer advocate Ralph Nader—who said: “The goal of such policies is to keep taxpayers’ dollars working for the community and reflecting the values of the state.�

Legislation to penalize outÂ*sourcing—also called “offÂ*shoringâ€� by Americans—have been either passed or filed in such states as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Washington, Missouri, Minnesota and Indiana.

In a recent e-mail, Cohen writes: “To highlight the impact of offshoring American information technology jobs, the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers launched a Web-based advertising and fund-raising campaign on April 7. The first ad features Seattle-area tech workers who have lost jobs to offshoring, including one who, to receive severance pay and retain unemployment insurance eligibility, had to train her offshore replacement. To see the ads and learn more, visit www.washtech.org.�

Meanwhile, American unionists working with legislators in 33 states have introduced or plan to introduce model legislation developed by the AFL-CIO to slow the offshoring of American jobs, Cohen says. Among others, the legislation prohibits states from contracting with companies that send jobs out of the United States.

Critics of the burgeoning BPO industry in the Philippines fail to mention that call centers offer entry-level salaries that are the equivalent of supervisors’ pay in other companies, that call centers take in even undergraduates who would be automatically turned away by other employers, that call centers provide perks—such as subsidized meals, rest areas and even gyms—to keep their workers in top form, that the call centers have boosted other businesses.

Above all, call centers employ thousands of Filipinos who would otherwise be jobless. The Teamsters (which calls itself “the world’s most powerful union�), the AFL-CIO and other US unions want those jobs to go exclusively to Americans.

Is that what KMU and Bayan Muna also want?

[LytSlpr]

I can only grin. That's ear to ear baby, yeah! bwahahahaha!!!!!

[omad]

The Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bayan Muna and similar organizations have condemned the BPO industry as a “hub for exploitation.� They dismiss work in contact centers as “dead-end jobs.� They point out that while call-center workers in Manila are each paid a monthly salary of about P15,000 their American counterparts get the equivalent of about P40,000.

here's a simple computation if P40K ( roughly $784) is spent in the U.S. : (and why Americans also consider it as a dead end job here)

Dallas, TX
so we'll start with a gross of about $784 with 0% state tax (Texas)
apartment : (studio type) verify:click here
=$400
utilities : water $20 electric : $70 (ave/mo)
=$90/mo
food : $13 a day or $91/week (McDo $3 BF $5 L $5 D) or let's put it at $60/week if you cook
=$240/mo
toiletries and others: (toothbrush, soap, bathroom tissue, etc etc...)
=$50/mo
total =$780/mo

so anybody working in a call center in the U.S. would have about $4 a month for himself, living a very simple and frugal existence (no TV, telephone, cable etc etc..) and walking to and from the office come snow or rain at 20 degrees (freezing). if they want to compare wages in the U.S. and the Philippines why not compare the cost of living for both locales the workers are located. I didn't even have New York, L.A. or Chicago as my sample cities 'coz $800 is not even enough to pay rent. I think these companies who outsource pay the same, about P40K/mo, after all the expenses are deducted. they are forced to outsource for the same reason that nobody wants those jobs in the U.S.

If P15K is what they call "being exploited" then let's here it from the call center people. let's ask them if the government can offer them jobs which are considered "not dead-end". and where they think they'll end up if call-centers were not there to serve as a stepping stone while they're looking for other stable jobs.

Critics of the burgeoning BPO industry in the Philippines fail to mention that call centers offer entry-level salaries that are the equivalent of supervisors’ pay in other companies, that call centers take in even undergraduates who would be automatically turned away by other employers, that call centers provide perks—such as subsidized meals, rest areas and even gyms—to keep their workers in top form, that the call centers have boosted other businesses.

Critics would always fail to mention (intentionally) what other options they can give these call-center people, that's their job. they don't care about what would happen to them (call-center workers) if those same people are jobless.. of course, they will just open their mouth and blah blah blah instead of offering solutions to the root cause of the problem ie the government this, the government that etc etc.. complains complains complains.. let the call-center people complain instead.. or let them move on if they think they can find other better paying jobs..

Above all, call centers employ thousands of Filipinos who would otherwise be jobless. The Teamsters (which calls itself “the world’s most powerful union�), the AFL-CIO and other US unions want those jobs to go exclusively to Americans.

nobody wants those call center jobs in the U.S. that's just plain and simple..

[LytSlpr]

when i attended a forum on call centers at the Waterfront by the Cebu Chamber, it was told that the budget allocation for each filipino agent is at least 65,000 pesos then why are callcenter agents receiving roughly a mere 1/3 of that budget, benefits included?

so it really depends who writes the article.

if supervisors or managers in banks don't get as much as callcenter people then why don't they work for callcenters and experience how it really is to work in one, that's if they are qualified to start with.

[brian_kd]

when i attended a forum on call centers at the Waterfront by the Cebu Chamber, it was told that the budget allocation for each filipino agent is at least 65,000 pesos then why are callcenter agents receiving roughly a mere 1/3 of that budget, benefits included?

so it really depends who writes the article.

if supervisors or managers in banks don't get as much as callcenter people then why don't they work for callcenters and experience how it really is to work in one, that's if they are qualified to start with.

Actually the budget for these business are done per head in the computation of ROI (Return on Investment). These allocated budget per head, includes not just salary and benefits but to include training, overhead, facilities (rent and maintenance) ect.

Ex.

Labor cost xxx
Benefits xxx
Training xxx
Overhead xxx
Facilities xxx
----------------------

Total xxx
/No. of Employees

=Ave. P65,000 per head.

The primary reason why they outsource labor to countries like the Philippines is because of cost savings, if not for that why would they outsource labor in the first place.

What the KMU people failed to mention or simply don't know (I hope not out of plain ignorance) is the concept of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity). The 40,000 a month you earn in the US, is roughly equivalent is not lower to the P15,000 one earns here in the Philippines due to the very high cost of living in the US. So it's not about the absolute value of what you earn, but how much or how little can you buy or purchase with the salary you're receiving.

[omad]

when i attended a forum on call centers at the Waterfront by the Cebu Chamber, it was told that the budget allocation for each filipino agent is at least 65,000 pesos then why are callcenter agents receiving roughly a mere 1/3 of that budget, benefits included?

and I'm pretty sure they didn't provide you with how the P65K is broken down as far as all the expenditures are concerned for each and every single one of the Filipino agent is concerned. that was the right time to ask for the breakdowns on paper as to where the P65k would be alloted.

if they say "at least" P65K then I'd say it's a travesty if the call center agents only receive about P15K. but if they say "up to" P65K then that's a different story.

if supervisors or managers in banks don't get as much as callcenter people then why don't they work for callcenters and experience how it really is to work in one, that's if they are qualified to start with.

if I were a supervisor or a manager in a given bank - if you ask me - then I won't trade it for P5K more than what I'm receiving right now. just like what I've said, if they treat call center jobs as stepping stones before they can find stable jobs then good for them. but if they think that it should be a career, then that's where I draw the line.

[omad]

The primary reason why they outsource labor to countries like the Philippines is because of cost savings, if not for that why would they outsource labor in the first place.

that^^ and also try "really high turn-over ratio", most Americans know better. if and when they have these type of jobs, they are forced to have a second job to make ends meet. or better yet, concentrate on that seconb job instead.

What the KMU people failed to mention or simply don't know (I hope not out of plain ignorance) is the concept of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity). The 40,000 a month you earn in the US, is roughly equivalent is not lower to the P15,000 one earns here in the Philippines due to the very high cost of living in the US. So it's not about the absolute value of what you earn, but how much or how little can you buy or purchase with the salary you're receiving.

it is waaaayyyyy much lower if we're talking about (PPP) between the $748(US) and P15K(RP). yes, it sounds really good to be true (P40K) but as I've shown earlier in my example - it's really not that much - if you spend it where you earned it..

[LytSlpr]

when i attended a forum on call centers at the Waterfront by the Cebu Chamber, it was told that the budget allocation for each filipino agent is at least 65,000 pesos then why are callcenter agents receiving roughly a mere 1/3 of that budget, benefits included?

so it really depends who writes the article.

if supervisors or managers in banks don't get as much as callcenter people then why don't they work for callcenters and experience how it really is to work in one, that's if they are qualified to start with.

Actually the budget for these business are done per head in the computation of ROI (Return on Investment). These allocated budget per head, includes not just salary and benefits but to include training, overhead, facilities (rent and maintenance) ect.

Ex.

Labor cost xxx
Benefits xxx
Training xxx
Overhead xxx
Facilities xxx
----------------------

Total xxx
/No. of Employees

=Ave. P65,000 per head.

The primary reason why they outsource labor to countries like the Philippines is because of cost savings, if not for that why would they outsource labor in the first place.

What the KMU people failed to mention or simply don't know (I hope not out of plain ignorance) is the concept of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity). The 40,000 a month you earn in the US, is roughly equivalent is not lower to the P15,000 one earns here in the Philippines due to the very high cost of living in the US. So it's not about the absolute value of what you earn, but how much or how little can you buy or purchase with the salary you're receiving.

in a nutshell what you are really trying to say is, when one earns in dollars he also spends in dollars so the value and purchasing power of our currencies are not the same thus should not be compared.

i realize that but nevertheless it still doesn't add up. in short, even with a guesstimate they take in very high revenues with wide profit margins and salaries are not equitable to the amount of work the people are given not to mention the pressure.

that's the beauty of outsourcing or off-shoring in 3rd world countries because for the nth time beggars can't be choosers and that's the reason why callcenters are designed like big Lego Sets so that they can just pack up when they feel even just a little heat and even some foolish managers will come to realize that their positions are not as stable as what the air in their heads should be and they go "watdapak?!"

that's the reason why Filipino counterparts or just mere contacts that pioneered the call center industries in the country became overnight multi-millionaires. some did not even shell out a centavo. in short, laway ra'y puhonan and i know this for a fact.