Stress in BPO jobs: Deadlier than ever

[duke pikaso]

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Hard-living youngsters drive Philippine outsourcing


By Karen Lema
Reuters

Posted date: March 02, 2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines' outsourcing industry is generating billions of dollars in revenues but executives fear employees are turning to caffeine, cigarettes and booze to deal with unsociable hours and demanding customers.
"I worry when I go to the call centers that we are spawning a generation of chain smoking, coffee addicts or worse, chain smoking beer drinkers,” Rosalie Montenegro, senior vice president of the Call Centre Business Group under Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) told Reuters on Friday.

"It is a reality, because the social support has not kept up with the growth of job creation."

Around 200,000 people are employed in the Philippines' outsourcing sector, many of them hired straight out of college.

Quick access to a monthly salary -- entry level wages have risen as much as 69 percent since 2003 -- and an open office plan full of twentysomethings creates a hectic social life.

But the strange working hours -- 9 pm till 6 am to cater for the US market -- is wearying and going for a post-shift drink to unwind means boozing at daybreak.

Aside from modern offices, Montenegro said investments must be made in what she calls "social infrastructure" to promote the well being of the industry's employees, who are often spotted nabbing a quick cigarette outside their offices.

"We need to invest in social wellness of our kids because the next generation should be the highest focus going forward," she said.

COUNTRY CLUB

Montenegro said PLDT, the country's biggest phone company and a medium-sized player in the outsourcing sector, was considering building a country club for its call center agents.

Montenegro said she hoped other outsourcing companies would support such a facility.

She said health and wellness providers, like spas, gyms and fitness centers should also be encouraged to extend their operating hours to cater to the needs of stressed workers.

The Philippines, with a large pool of English speakers and a strong cultural affinity with the United States, is developing as a viable alternative to India in the global outsourcing market.

It earned $3.6 billion from outsourcing in 2006, up 50 percent from the previous year. The government estimates revenue could jump to $12.1 billion by 2010 as the industry diversifies.

Big outsourcing players from the United States such as Sykes Enterprises Inc., Convergys Corp., PeopleSupport Inc., Accenture Ltd. and eTelecare Global Solutions Inc. already have branches in the Philippines.

Last year, the world's largest maker of personal computers, Dell Inc., opened its first call center in the country and recently opened a second contact center.

"The Philippines is working very hard to achieve it's '10-10-10' vision of $10 billion dollars, 10 percent market share by 2010 and this is not going to happen by dreaming about it but by having a solid strategy," Montenegro said.

[duke pikaso]

Hard-living youngsters drive Philippine outsourcing


By Karen Lema
Reuters

Posted date: March 02, 2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines' outsourcing industry is generating billions of dollars in revenues but executives fear employees are turning to caffeine, cigarettes and booze to deal with unsociable hours and demanding customers.
"I worry when I go to the call centers that we are spawning a generation of chain smoking, coffee addicts or worse, chain smoking beer drinkers,” Rosalie Montenegro, senior vice president of the Call Centre Business Group under Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) told Reuters on Friday.

"It is a reality, because the social support has not kept up with the growth of job creation."

Around 200,000 people are employed in the Philippines' outsourcing sector, many of them hired straight out of college.

Quick access to a monthly salary -- entry level wages have risen as much as 69 percent since 2003 -- and an open office plan full of twentysomethings creates a hectic social life.

But the strange working hours -- 9 pm till 6 am to cater for the US market -- is wearying and going for a post-shift drink to unwind means boozing at daybreak.

Aside from modern offices, Montenegro said investments must be made in what she calls "social infrastructure" to promote the well being of the industry's employees, who are often spotted nabbing a quick cigarette outside their offices.

"We need to invest in social wellness of our kids because the next generation should be the highest focus going forward," she said.

COUNTRY CLUB

Montenegro said PLDT, the country's biggest phone company and a medium-sized player in the outsourcing sector, was considering building a country club for its call center agents.

Montenegro said she hoped other outsourcing companies would support such a facility.

She said health and wellness providers, like spas, gyms and fitness centers should also be encouraged to extend their operating hours to cater to the needs of stressed workers.

The Philippines, with a large pool of English speakers and a strong cultural affinity with the United States, is developing as a viable alternative to India in the global outsourcing market.

It earned $3.6 billion from outsourcing in 2006, up 50 percent from the previous year. The government estimates revenue could jump to $12.1 billion by 2010 as the industry diversifies.

Big outsourcing players from the United States such as Sykes Enterprises Inc., Convergys Corp., PeopleSupport Inc., Accenture Ltd. and eTelecare Global Solutions Inc. already have branches in the Philippines.

Last year, the world's largest maker of personal computers, Dell Inc., opened its first call center in the country and recently opened a second contact center.

"The Philippines is working very hard to achieve it's '10-10-10' vision of $10 billion dollars, 10 percent market share by 2010 and this is not going to happen by dreaming about it but by having a solid strategy," Montenegro said.

[duke pikaso]

Hard-living youngsters drive Philippine outsourcing


By Karen Lema
Reuters

Posted date: March 02, 2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines' outsourcing industry is generating billions of dollars in revenues but executives fear employees are turning to caffeine, cigarettes and booze to deal with unsociable hours and demanding customers.
"I worry when I go to the call centers that we are spawning a generation of chain smoking, coffee addicts or worse, chain smoking beer drinkers,” Rosalie Montenegro, senior vice president of the Call Centre Business Group under Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) told Reuters on Friday.

"It is a reality, because the social support has not kept up with the growth of job creation."

Around 200,000 people are employed in the Philippines' outsourcing sector, many of them hired straight out of college.

Quick access to a monthly salary -- entry level wages have risen as much as 69 percent since 2003 -- and an open office plan full of twentysomethings creates a hectic social life.

But the strange working hours -- 9 pm till 6 am to cater for the US market -- is wearying and going for a post-shift drink to unwind means boozing at daybreak.

Aside from modern offices, Montenegro said investments must be made in what she calls "social infrastructure" to promote the well being of the industry's employees, who are often spotted nabbing a quick cigarette outside their offices.

"We need to invest in social wellness of our kids because the next generation should be the highest focus going forward," she said.

COUNTRY CLUB

Montenegro said PLDT, the country's biggest phone company and a medium-sized player in the outsourcing sector, was considering building a country club for its call center agents.

Montenegro said she hoped other outsourcing companies would support such a facility.

She said health and wellness providers, like spas, gyms and fitness centers should also be encouraged to extend their operating hours to cater to the needs of stressed workers.

The Philippines, with a large pool of English speakers and a strong cultural affinity with the United States, is developing as a viable alternative to India in the global outsourcing market.

It earned $3.6 billion from outsourcing in 2006, up 50 percent from the previous year. The government estimates revenue could jump to $12.1 billion by 2010 as the industry diversifies.

Big outsourcing players from the United States such as Sykes Enterprises Inc., Convergys Corp., PeopleSupport Inc., Accenture Ltd. and eTelecare Global Solutions Inc. already have branches in the Philippines.

Last year, the world's largest maker of personal computers, Dell Inc., opened its first call center in the country and recently opened a second contact center.

"The Philippines is working very hard to achieve it's '10-10-10' vision of $10 billion dollars, 10 percent market share by 2010 and this is not going to happen by dreaming about it but by having a solid strategy," Montenegro said.

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[Metz]

depende raman sad na sa time management and discipline. Unwind lng gud during weekends and not on office days but sometimes I do it also on office days pero once a week ra hehehe. Tulog jud before work. Excercise as well.

But Id love it kung additional perks ang free gym, malipay jud ko ana hehehe

[quad]

i agree

[duke pikaso]

bitaw, pareha sa amu call center, naa gym , spa, coffee shop sa ubos! wahehehe.. naa ra tanan in one building!!

[Metz]

bigfoot na sa? how I wish naa sad mi ana. oh well one company cant have everything. Happy raman sad ko diri hehehe. Tungod sad sa ako work na health conscious ko so on my part, naay good effect hehehehe