"Call center"...there is justice in the world

[lloydangelo211]

---

...there is justice in the world

"Call center"
Mataas na sweldo, magaan na trabaho, no age limit at hindi rin kailangang
college graduate. Ang tanging requirement, ganda ng boses at galing sa
pagsasalita. 'Ika nga ng iba, "in" ka kapag nasa call center ka. Pero
paano kung ang kapalit ng magadnang sweldo at iba't ibang benepisyo, ay
ang kanilang kalusugan at kaligtasan?

That is the article at abs-cbsnews.com about their feature in The
Correspondents about call centers and their employees.

Sad to say, Gigi Grande and the producers who conceptualized the said
episode was not able to capture the truth behind call centers and their
employees.

magaan na trabaho -- this is a misconception that a lot of people have
about call centers. this is work, serious work and not playtime. as call
center agents we are the frontliners of some of the biggest companies
around the world. we handle their first line of defense for their
businnes, Customer Service. we Filipinos who work in call centers
represent these companies to their consumers and we filipinos can spell
the success or downfall of these business just on how we deal with their
consumers 24/7 and that is not an easy task. the reason why call centers
thrive in the philippines is because filipinos have good customer service
skills. we are professional workers and we give everything a 100%. i
salute all the call center employees who make this feat possible. it means
jobs and job security to the filipinos who wanted to work in their own
country.

no age limit -- because call centers are equal opportunity employers. they
do not set limitations to people's ability to work. it is only here in the
philippines where we put an age limit to applications. it really does not
matter what age the applicant is as long as they can still deliver quality
performance. it is called diversity.

hindi rin kailangang college graduate - for cheap call centers maybe, not
for the big ones. we encourage our applicants to finish college first
before applying. they may also be assisted through schedule requests if
they want to continue studying while still employed.

Ang tanging requirement, ganda ng boses at galing sa pagsasalita -- for
radio stations yes. not for call center. we are not DJs. we also require
high IQ and intelligence in call centers. For example, Wil Ison, the 24 yo
manager who was featured in The Correpondents. You did not even applaude
him for reaching that position in such a young age. if he was employed in
a bank, he will only become a manager if he kissed enough bossess ass or
because he is already 50 years old. People like Wil were promoted because
they are good employees. Most of the call centers have internal
application processes that enables the employees to apply for higher
position highliting their performance and capabilities and not who their
friends are and whose ass they just wiped.

'Ika nga ng iba, "in" ka kapag nasa call center ka. - this is not a fad.
we are working, we pay our taxes, we are productive citizens of this
country. we chose to stay and earn here in our own country rather than go
abroad and contribute to the brain drain. we earn a lot beacuse we work
hard. we are thankful for the good education we were provided by our
parents that gave us the competencies we have now. we are working for
multinational companies and we get promoted. most of us 21-30 years old
and we are managers, supervisors and senior managers.

we may not be doctors or lawyers but at least we are not corrupt. we are
productive and we make sure that our families and our future families will
not be included with the uneducated, paid rallyists in EDSA, who do not
even understand why they are there. we are not a burden to the government,
they should even be thankful because it is our tax, the middle class tax,
that makes it possible for the Philippines to stay alive.

instead of potraying us as obese, smoking insomiacs....why not thank us?
applaude our achievements, be proud that we are very good with what we do
that's why investors come in to the philippines. ask the government to
provide security to the employees who have different schedules from the
normal 9-5 workers? ask them to take care of us and in return we will work
harder, show the companies that it is worth investing in the philippines,
we will continue to pay our taxes and slowly but surely help our country
progress.

[dear heart]

YOU'VE GOT A VERY GOOD INSIGHT OF A CALL CENTER ESPECIALLY AS AN AGENT, BRO IT'S NEVER AN EASY JOB ESPECIALLY IF YOU GET SCREWED 8 HRS. TO YOUR HEADSETS AND JUST DIAL AND DIAL TO MAKE A COMPLETE CALL. PERHAPS IT'S THE REASON WHY WE GET A HIGHER PAY NOT TO MENTION THE RISK WHEN WE GET UP EARLY AT DAWN TO GO TO WORK AND HEALTH PROBLEMS DUE TO LACK OF SLEEP PLUS BEING SCREWED TO YOUR SEAT MOST OF THE TIME- YOU GET A LOT OF MUSCLE PAINS. IT MIGHT BE TRUE THAT THERE IS NOT MUCH PRESSURE - BUT PHYSICALLY - THERE REALLY IS! HERE'S MY WARMEST CONGRATS TO ALL MY KABARO AT ALL CALL CENTERS!

[Metz]

waaa no all caps pls, better read forum rules.

and about bad health, isnt this due to drinking sessions(team building) right after work? rather than sleeping immediately
is there any other way of team building? Im hoping to join the call center work force soon, but Im afraid I cant join drinking sessions most of the time. Kung sa bisaya pa, napul-an nko cgeg inom, panagsa nlng hehehe.

[AlecZander]

@ bro lloydangelo211

nice post, pero we'd appreciate if you give credit to where its due, i believe that's actually an email from
Menice Yap Call Center Supervisor To Gigi Grande (show host), who saw the show. ok bro? peace

ok by the way here's an email reply from Gigi (taken fom pinoyexchange.com)

From: Gigi_Grande@abs.pinoycentral.com [mailto:Gigi_Grande@abs.pinoycentral.com]
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 4:08 AM
To: Evelyn Manaysay
Cc: Joana Buita Anne Esguerra Anna Rodriguez
Subject: Re: THE CORRESPONDENTS




Dear Evelyn,

Thank you for sending me a copy of Menice Yap's e-mail. I wish I had her e-mail address so that I could respond to her directly, but
since I don't, perhaps you could forward my e-mail to her?

First of all, I wonder if Menice actually watched the entire episode last March 6? The purpose of the episode was to show both the good side of working in a call center, as well as the down side. We wanted to encourage employers to take better care of employees, but we also wanted aspiring call center agents to weigh the risks carefully before joining the industry.

When we said there was "no age limit", and that "a college diploma is not required", we meant it in a positive way. Reading Menice Yap's e-mail, it would appear she was defensive about this. We think it's great that even Pinoys in their 40s and 50s can get a job in a call center.
And how encouraging that those who don't have the means to finish a college education STILL have the opportunity to get a decent, high paying job! The only way Menice could have misinterpreted this is if she had not watched the episode. She also mentioned Wil Ison. If she had watched the program, she would have seen that we DID applaud the fact that he was a manager at such a young age.

When we said "magaang na trabaho"- this was based on interviews with several call center representatives ON camera and OFF camera. Many of them said the most difficult part of the job was the schedule, as well as speaking with irate callers- difficulties which we certainly mentioned in the story. There was no intention to demean the job of call center agents, nor to dismiss it as menial. We agree with Menice that intelligence is essential to the job. NOWHERE in the episode was the contrary insinuated. In fact, the men and women we interviewed are all very intelligent. Again, there was no need for Menice to be defensive.

And what's wrong with saying that it's "in" to work in a call center? That's certainly how a good number of young people feel. That was not meant to insult. It was just meant to reflect how a good number of agents feel about working in this industry. Again she was being defensive when she said " we are working, we are paying taxes, we are being productive." We KNOW you are working, paying taxes and being productive! I don't understand where Menice Yap's hostility is comming from. We certainly did not say that ALL call center agents are "obese smoking insomniacs". However it IS a FACT that a growing number of agents have become overweight or obese, have insomnia, and have begun to smoke. And this is an issue that agents and employers should be concerned about! It is also useful information for those aspiring to work in the industry.

The final paragraph of Menice's e-mail betrays her knowledge of the story we presented. She said, "why not thank us?... ask the government to provide security to the employees who have different schedules from the normal 9-5 workers? ask them to take care of us." Menice, THAT'S WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO !!! In fact, let me reiterate that our aim was to call attention to the upside and downside of working in a call center, and as far as the downside was concerned, we wanted government and industry employers to take better care of employees. We're not the enemy!

Thanks for your time, Evelyn, and I hope this e-mail somehow finds its way to Menice so that these issues may be clarified.

Sincerely,
Gigi












"Evelyn Manaysay" <emanaysay@epixtar.com>

03/10/2006 02:23 AM
To
<ggrande@abs-cbn.com>

cc


Subject
THE CORRESPONDENCE

----- Message from "Evelyn Manaysay" <emanaysay@epixtar.com> on Thu, 9 Mar 2006 13:18:47 -0500 -----

To:
"'Grace Manaysay'" <grace.manaysay@ambergrissolutions.com>

cc:
<MailUsers@abs-cbn.com>

Subject:
Call Center episode from ABS-CBN's "The Correspondents" --UNFAIR!









Oist guys read this... haay naku, its just so sad how Philippine Media sees jobs in call centers.. =;(




"Call center"
Mataas na sweldo, magaan na trabaho, no age limit at hindi rin kailangang college graduate. Ang tanging requirement, ganda ng boses at galing sa pagsasalita. 'Ika nga ng iba, "in" ka kapag nasa call center ka. Pero paano kung ang kapalit ng magadnang sweldo at iba't ibang benepisyo, ay ang kanilang kalusugan at kaligtasan?




That is the article at abs-cbsnews.com about their feature in The Correspondents about call centers and their employees.

Sad to say, Gigi Grande and the producers who conceptualized the said episode was not able to capture the truth behind call centers and their employees.

magaan na trabaho -- this is a misconception that a lot of people have about call centers. this is work, serious work and not playtime. as call center agents we are the frontliners of some of the biggest companies around the world. we handle their first line of defense for their businnes, Customer Service. we Filipinos who work in call centers represent these companies to their consumers and we filipinos can spell the success or downfall of these business just on how we deal with their consumers 24/7 and that is not an easy task. the reason why call centers thrive in the philippines is because filipinos have good customer service skills. we are professional workers and we give everything a 100%. i salute all the call center employees who make this feat possible. it means jobs and job security to the filipinos who wanted to work in their own country.

no age limit -- because call centers are equal opportunity employers. they do not set limitations to people's ability to work. it is only here in the philippines where we put an age limit to applications. it really does not matter what age the applicant is as long as they can still deliver quality performance. it is called diversity.

hindi rin kailangang college graduate - for cheap call centers maybe, not for the big ones. we encourage our applicants to finish college first before applying. they may also be assisted through schedule requests if they want to continue studying while still employed.

Ang tanging requirement, ganda ng boses at galing sa pagsasalita -- for radio stations yes. not for call center. we are not DJs. we also require high IQ and intelligence in call centers. For example, Wil Ison, the 24 yo manager who was featured in The Correpondents. You did not even applaude him for reaching that position in such a young age. if he was employed in a bank, he will only become a manager if he kissed enough bossess *** or because he is already 50 years old. People like Wil were promoted because they are good employees. Most of the call centers have internal application processes that enables the employees to apply for higher position highliting their performance and capabilities and not who their friends are and whose *** they just wiped.

'Ika nga ng iba, "in" ka kapag nasa call center ka. - this is not a fad. we are working, we pay our taxes, we are productive citizens of this country. we chose to stay and earn here in our own country rather than go abroad and contribute to the brain drain. we earn a lot beacuse we work hard. we are thankful for the good education we were provided by our parents that gave us the competencies we have now. we are working for multinational companies and we get promoted. most of us 21-30 years old and we are managers, supervisors and senior managers.

we may not be doctors or lawyers but at least we are not corrupt. we are productive and we make sure that our families and our future families will not be included with the uneducated, paid rallyists in EDSA, who do not even understand why they are there. we are not a burden to the government, they should even be thankful because it is our tax, the middle class tax, that makes it possible for the Philippines to stay alive.

instead of potraying us as obese, smoking insomiacs....why not thank us? applaude our achievements, be proud that we are very good with what we do that's why investors come in to the philippines. ask the government to provide security to the employees who have different schedules from the normal 9-5 workers? ask them to take care of us and in return we will work harder, show the companies that it is worth investing in the philippines, we will continue to pay our taxes and slowly but surely help our country progress.

Menice Yap
Call Center Supervisor
Pasig City

[pnoize]

angst...angst..and more angst. and a case of copy and paste syndrome.

Here's my take. I really wonder if they watched the episode. It was actually a balanced view of a call center agents life.

People say that it's not an easy job because they get stuck to a headset and get health problems. well, you chose to get that job so stop complaining and deal with it. Be thankful that there are jobs that give equal opportunities.

It is definitely an easy job than say...being a carpenter or a pier porter.

[k3nt]

balance ra man pagka docu sa episode...klaro a2....wa cguro ni cla ni tan.aw...
or wa lng kasabot.....

ako nagwork ko sa call center as tech support...magaan jud na trabaho..

[digitalsuperman]

for me, no job is an easy job, unless your job is to do nothing.

[ryan22]

balance ra man pagka docu sa episode...klaro a2....wa cguro ni cla ni tan.aw...
or wa lng kasabot.....

ako nagwork ko sa call center as tech support...magaan jud na trabaho..

gud for you bai kay wa ka gkapoy.

for me, no job is an easy job, unless your job is to do nothing.

correct :mrgreen:

[dagget]

well we can call the call center industry a vibrant one.

still in its infancy with lots of workers moving around and has high attrition rate because of the graveyard schedules.

i think adjustments have been made already to improve the set-up.

it will evolve eventually

Enjoy the ride........

if only there was no time difference.... i could work in a call center.........

[redial_that]

ngeeeekkkkkkk.....

customer: my coffee holder is dmaged, can u help me

agent: sir' what do you mean coffee holder

customer: the one that pops out just above the floppy drive