As the
Philippines faced the 5th industrial revolution, with the majority of
international companies, such as Google and Microsoft, investing in Artificial
Intelligence and automation, the country's best source of economic
regeneration, the Information Technology Business Processing Outsourcing
(IT-BPO) sector, was preparing its components and logistical needs to meet the
demands of the times. The sweep of technological advancement primarily
demonstrates that the old system of business operations, due to the call of
international markets, has led the Philippines to much more fussing and has
tried much more to align all institutional components such as education and
workforce to the call of Globalization. Following its equivalent in India, the
Philippines was recently considered as the future global BPO hub. The reason
for this is that workers in the country have been considered marketable due to
the acquisition of soft skills such as excellent communication skills, where
English is very common for its people, possibly due to the long influence of
American culture and its educational system, and the low labor costs. Last
February of 2023, the department of education amend its basic curriculum to the
essentials needs of every Filipino student to mainly focus on 3’Rs and the
stress of English language and technical skills. This also shown on given the
opportunity to high school graduate to be employable as they completed the
additional 2 years in secondary education primarily started since the
Administration former president Rodrigo Duterte and former Deped Secretary
Leonor Briones since 2016. Despite the country's lack of advanced technology,
the government sells these deals to multinational firms in order for their
investment to be based in the economy and save it from failing and economic
troubles. BPO employment are common and may be found in all job marketplaces,
job placement agencies, and platforms. According to Colliers International
magazine analysis, the BPO business is anticipated to be worth US$164.7 billion
in 2022 and US$381.52 billion by 2030. In 2000, the BPO industry accounted for
a mere 0.075% of the country’s GDP, which has grown exponentially since then.
In an article published in Manila Standard, Jack Madrid, president of the IT
and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said that the
industry contributed at least 7% to the Philippine economy during the pandemic.
In 2005, the BPO industry in the Philippines, consisting primarily of
outsourcing call centers, contributed 2.4 percent to the country’s gross
domestic product (GDP) as it gained 3+ percent of the global BPO market. Over
the next five years, the BPO sector in the country exponentially grew,
generating $8.9 billion in revenue in the Philippines, leading the country to
be declared as the world’s BPO capital in 2010. Today, the BPO industry in the
Philippines holds an estimated 12 to 15 percent of the global BPO market (Phil.Star).
Nextford University also revealed that 1.3 million Filipinos had been employed
in over 1,000 BPO companies since 2019. This has also been given to various
private sectors such as real estate to change their assets such as condos,
warehouses, and malls into new places of business operation such as BPO. This
can be seen as SM malls deliver renting facilities to the new endeavor for BPO
hub, which is particularly closed to their finest malls and restaurants. These
may also be an excellent opportunity for a 24/7 operation to cater to the
workers in times of starvation and need for foods and other related personal
necessities.
On the
other hand, Some SME (Small Medium Enterprise) considered BPO as life saver,
since they have these opportunities for them save costs of labor in staffing
and onboarding. According to Sunstar.com, By tapping into the country’s vast
workforce, SME can save a whopping 50-70% on labor costs. Compare the US$4-6
per hour earned by a call center agent in the Philippines to the US$12-15 paid
to a US agent for doing the same job. BPO providers cover secondary costs like
insurance and benefits. Small business owners can then re-channel these savings
into other areas of their business. All of the said beneficial information for
the country’s economy are truly mirrored that a strong fundamental way of
actions is on its way and they were successful for this one. However,
discontent was brewing behind the walls of call centers, back offices, and
customer service hubs. BPO workers, the overlooked heroes of the global
outsourcing business, continue to face multiple issues, the most of which have
gone unnoticed for far too long. Reports in unfair labor practices and unhealthy
working conditions are normalized in the work and still running to the veins of
every aspect of the sunshine business of BPO. This is also the culprit on why
some organization decided to have formed at least a union in the BPO industry
instead to be the center of grievances and complains. This is a review of the
individual problems within the BPO setup and how these problems are an
extension of the larger problem of labor groups that make the collective
journey as a testament to the effectiveness of collective actions and social
solidarity.
Personal
Issues or Public Troubles? The challenges of BPO Workers in forming unions.
Despite the
demands of BPO workers in the Philippines, the industry is characterized by
working long hours of shift, high demand of productivity, Low wages, Job
insecurity, and often stressful that may cause an unhealthy working condition
among others. One of the examples of these is the formation of Unified
Employees of Alorica, founded by initiative of some frontline agents and
managerial positions in Makati City way back in 2016. The company (Alorica) has
implemented some incentive for those employees to work in long hours from
regular 8 hours of work, in labor code, stated the acceptable working hours is
only 8 provided if there’s a prescribed maximum overtime hours for selected
industries. Apparently, the BPO companies is not subscribing the rule of the
thumb in implementing such regulation and sometimes it may appeal to the client
that it may serve as a productivity wise but for the employee is a massive
issue inside of the production floor. One of the testaments of the call center
employee in Alorica, state that sometimes their schedule has been plotted a
mandatory overtime and there’s a definite time allotted already without their
will. The culture of “pakikisama” by which one of the Filipino adhere culture in
the workplace have been observed. Job termination also came to the scene and
the management does not care anything about it. Because of unlawful situation
of the BPO workers in Alorica, some agents filed their grievances in DOLE or Department
of Labor and Employment through its channel, the National Labor Relation
Commission (NLRC). The outcome seems successful however, the attack towards the
union has been promulgated in the workplace that led to failing of the
organization inside of the company premises. The company retaliated by
terminating all the leaders of the union and made up some cases to justify the
termination of union leaders. The employees still the sense of their ideals in
restating the union but then some members are not engaged anymore in the work
and some of them have been transferred to a different company. These results are
also found in the studies of Reese and Soco-Carreon from Austrian Journal of
South-East Asian Studies, a qualitative study with 40 currently employed and
former call center agents in Metro Manila, Davao City and Dumaguete City. They
found out that, call center employees in BPO industries are not recommended by
their employers and it may result to their separation and will mark them as not
good example for other employees, and joining a union is part of their
compliance as stipulated on their employment contract upon onboarding. Discouragement
and discrimination have been shown and fear at the same time that aggravated by
the fact that, if you have to speak out it will have tagged you as
troublemakers. BPO workers are not so clear on who to blame in some unlawful
policies of these companies since majority of the clients are in abroad so they
didn’t know whom to talk to and bargain with since they are not visible. Others
even say that nobody is to be held responsible in particular. They all rely and
gave their grievances in HR and if there’s a town hall which sometimes it needs
to be approach individually in an open-door policy. They have been managed to
tell their situations and job concerns but supervisor can’t do anything about
it since they are busy in the account that they are part of.
Individual
problems define the lives of all BPO workers, painting a complicated picture of
an industry that has offered employment and economic opportunities for all
Filipinos, particularly young professionals today. Today's new generation is
obsessed with information and has learned to think critically as the new era of
learning is introduced. Nonetheless, the system was attempting to emphasize the
need of not becoming a patron of any development among its labor force, and
profits are the first priority. Clearly, if we consider the reality that BPO
workers are a younger generation, and the lack of information in union
formation is not as prevalent, some will take the initiative to become
involved, particularly in change. Individual BPO workers' private lives are not
isolated events, but are inextricably connected with societal issues. The
majority of this is due to the effects of globalization and Neo-liberalization
of the economy, which are currently taking place in the global south.
Individual worker problems that prevent people from joining a union are linked
to this issue and must be addressed.
The
workers' social solidarity is evident enough to determine that they should
create a place and unionize in order to protect their interests and grasp of
what it means to be a human being. It's simple to grasp how they live, but the
system makes it difficult to do so. According to Mills' Sociological
Imagination, it’s explained how individual people understand their and others'
pasts in relation to both history and social structure. Figuration is the
simultaneous study of society and individuals. Social solidarity is any social
ties that bind a group of people together. Social Solidarity is a powerful
force that can help BPO workers achieve improved working conditions and labor
rights. It will increase the demand for change and call into question the
status quo. By combining their efforts,
BPO workers can impact not only their immediate working situations, but also a
larger societal system that perpetuates their problems.
As we
conclude the challenge of forming a union in BPO is on the dim situation that
needs to clear all necessary disruptions along the way. BPO sector needs to be
more aggressive in to understand the benefits of collective action as part of
their social solidarity that may lead to change of the whole large system. Good
thing, some organization in labor sector are passing some bills like the Magna
Carta for BPO that started since 2014 and it use it to establishes standards
for fair labor practices and mandates additional benefits to BPO workers, such
as safeguards against job insecurity, a uniform nationwide minimum wage for
entry-level positions, and access to medical benefits upon employment. In
addition, those workers who are brave enough to organize and/or fight for their
right to organize face various forms of harassment and discrimination from
management. This opportunity will give leeway and will be the answer in lacking
of organizational power to push the interest of BPO workers in the Philippines.
REFERENCES:
Chi,
Christina. Bill seeking fair labor practices, job security for BPO workers
filed. May 21, 2023. Philippine Star. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/05/21/2267487/bill-seeking-fair-labor-practices-job-security-bpo-workers-filed
C. Wright
Mills. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press, 1959.
BPO
Philippines: A Potential Lifesaver for SMEs.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/feature/bpo-philippines-a-potential-lifesaver-for-smes
Galant,
Michael. Philippine Call Center Workers Are in Danger. It’s Our Problem, Too.
MAY 27, 2020. INThesetimes.
https://inthesetimes.com/article/philippine-call-center-workers-covid-cwa-unions-corporate-globalization
Industry
Knowledge. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Philippines: A Promising Future?.
Published on October 21, 2022. Task Us Philippines. https://www.taskus.com/insights/bpo-industry-philippines/
Pacete,
Tricia. BPO situationer: Philippines poised to capture a bigger slice of the
BPO global market share. September 20, 2020. Colliers International Manila. https://www.colliers.com/en-ph/news/bpo-situationer-philippines-poised-capture-bigger-slice-global-market-share
Reese, N.,
& Soco-Carreon, J. (2013). No call for action? Why there is no union (yet)
in Philippine call centers. ASEAS - Austrian Journal of South-East Asian
Studies, 6(1), 140-159. https://doi.org/10.4232/10.ASEAS-6.1-8
Statement
on the Anti-Union Interference Bill (HB 407). bienphilippines. March 13, 2023. https://bienphilippines.wordpress.com/news-2/
