The Future Of Call Center Jobs In The Philippines

Call center jobs in the Philippines are said to suffer considerable damages because of the looming world economic crisis, and Obama’s plan to fix the glitch in the US Obama has been very vocal about his economic policies and stance throughout his campaign and during the first few months of his term as the leader of the watchdog of the world. He wants to centralize all resources and circulate revenues within the sphere of American economy. This translates into a total overhauling of economic plans to reinforce America's domestic labor. In plain and less complex English, the name of the game is to provide more jobs to his people by employing Americans instead of foreigners.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with his master plan. In fact, it is good that he's thinking of ways to alleviate the blow of their spiraling economy to the American populace. But the larger picture shows a different reality.

The Philippines' strong bond with the US economy through business process outsourcing (BPO) might be extremely affected by this sudden economic steer. Filipinos working for American call centers, medical transcription companies, and content off-shoring companies are doomed to lose jobs if Obama's economic plans push the envelopes further. Saying that many of call center jobs in the Philippines are at the verge of going kaput sounds awful, but when you look at the stern numbers, it gets worse. According to statistics, we have 46% of twenty-something fresh graduates desiring to plunge into the BPO workforce, 900,000 employees earning their way through call center jobs, and thousands of families relying on relatives working in BPO companies. Do the math.

If these stark projections were to come true, Filipinos should brace themselves for a fiercer bout with unemployment and poverty as Philippine economy swings from low to ground zero.

On the other hand, there are also claims that this big pullout of call center jobs in the Philippines is just blown out of proportion. Since American BPO industry moguls would rig in more revenues through cutting the cost of labor, pulling out their accounts in Asia spells less profit. Most of them would rather hire Asian agents than their fellow Americans because of affordable labor. In this time of economic turmoil, even the richest of businessmen would not be adamant to go for the cheapest labor there is. Not only that, Asian agents are not at all bad when it comes to client-relations based service.

In the US, minimum wage for blue collar jobs is $12.00 to $14.00 per hour, which would still cost a lot more for American businessmen. Asian-based BPO employees are paid a LOT less with wages that run from $300.00 to $500.00 PER MONTH. Considering the huge recession happening in the US, it is no wonder that businesses would still opt for cheaper labor cost despite the Obama promise of tax cuts.

Obama's win is not only phenomenal because he's the first African-American US President. It is way beyond that. His win is a sneak peek of changes to hit countries all over the world. Since US still remains as a super power in world affairs, every move and decision this US President makes will not only affect Americans but neighboring countries, as well. However, to say that Obama's economic plan is enough to completely knock off business process outsourcing in the Philippines is just not accurate. A lot of factors come to play when it comes to shutting down this mammoth of an industry such as economic fluctuations, production, cost, etc. Pointing all blaming fingers on Obama's win for the depleting call center jobs in the Philippines is just not logical at all.