In my last week's blog entry, I talked about the rise of the BPO industry in our country, the benefits that it brings, as well as its bad effects. I was browsing for news earlier when I came across a news article regarding the BPO industry. I was a bit surprised that this news article somehow confirmed my fears. If you would ask me why I was so fixated with this topic, it is because I was also BPO employee, although not as a call center agent, before I entered law school.
The government must really do something about this before it gets worse.
Below is the full text of the news article from Inquirer.net that I am talking about:
‘Crunch taking toll on BPO workers’ health’
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:11:00 03/18/2009
MANILA, Philippines – A labor study group warned Wednesday that occupational health risks in the outsourcing industry are likely to increase after the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) said companies are scaling down growth targets and hiring of new personnel, if not already laying off some.
The Quezon City-based Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) said BPO firms that shed staff tend to overwork their remaining employees.
“It has come to our attention that some outsourcing companies are already employing reduced workforce[s] while encouraging multitasking and additional unpaid work hours, which will further distress the health of the employees,” EILER deputy executive director Anna Leah Escresa-Colina said in a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
She said last year, EILER undertook a research on call centers servicing the airline, railway, bus, cruise ship/ferry industries, and logistics, goods and transport industries.
The research, she said, found out that the occupational health risks from graveyard shifts, long working hours, very cool temperatures in work places, and high work stress due to high quotas are very serious and potentially life-threatening.
Most of the respondents, according to Colina, experienced sleeping problems, eye strain, overall fatigue, headaches, chest and back pains, voice problems and mental stress. Other health hazards were work stress, work time, and irrational behavior of customers.
“Despite such high occupational health risks in call centers, clinical services are found to be wanting especially during graveyard shifts,” she added, recalling that in 2007, a stress-induced death of a call center agent was reported in the media.
Colina also found fault in BPAP’s statement that it was still possible to earn $13 billion in revenues as indicated by the so-called BPO Roadmap 2010.
“But to be able to reach this revenue target, the right of BPO employees to organize will be effectively suppressed as only organized employees can comprehensively advance their concerns on health and safety, career paths and development, skills development, their social life, savings for their future and long-term occupation security,” she explained.
The EILER official said the BPO industry is virtually union-free because organizing in the sector is said to be covertly and overtly discouraged by the management.
EILER also said that the Department of Labor and Employment’s new Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangements which encouraged establishments to impose forced leaves, overtime without pay, shift reduction, rotation, compressed work week and other practices could undermine the rights of workers of in other industries as well.
Raymond Roque
06-78143
Showing posts with label BPO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BPO. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
BPO
The passage of the E-commerce Act in year 2000 marks the commencement of the meteoric rise in the Philippines of a major industry related to ICT. This is the Business Process Outsourcing industry comprises several “sub-industries” such as call centers, medical transcription, legal process outsourcing, web development and back-office outsourcing.
I remember during this time, many call center companies have sprouted in the business districts of Makati, Ortigas and Libis in QC which were renowned for massive recruitment of workers usually those who were fresh from college. Many workers were attracted to these jobs because of the highly competitive compensation package that awaits the successful applicant. Some call center companies even gave signing bonuses for the new hires. Moreover, most companies have very brief hiring procedures that take only a day or two, i.e., from the time the applicant submitted his/her resume up to the time that he/she signs the employment contract.
Be that as it may, there is also a bad side to this story. Even though these companies attracted workers by hordes, they also suffered high attrition rates. This fact may be attributed to the peculiar working schedules in these companies. Almost all call center companies operate 24/7 which means that some employees will be assigned to work from 10 o’ clock in the evening up to 6 o’ clock in the morning. This is necessary because they need to approximate the working hours in western countries particularly the US where most of their client companies are located. Many call center employees cannot stand the difficulty of working in the wee hours that some of them got burned out while other got hospitalized. These are some of the hidden risks that come with working in call center companies.
I know this for a fact because just last month, my 24-year old neighbor-friend was rushed to the hospital because she suffered a mild stroke while working at 2:30 in the morning. She was assigned in the 10pm-6am shift for 3 and a half months straight prior to the incident. Luckily, my friend was able to recover but the doctor strongly advised her not to work in evening shifts anymore. But how could she possibly do that? She could only heed that advice if either the company allows her to change shifts or find another job. The second option is next to impossible at this point in time when finding a decent job may be likened to finding a needle in a haystack.
Raymond Roque
06-78143
I remember during this time, many call center companies have sprouted in the business districts of Makati, Ortigas and Libis in QC which were renowned for massive recruitment of workers usually those who were fresh from college. Many workers were attracted to these jobs because of the highly competitive compensation package that awaits the successful applicant. Some call center companies even gave signing bonuses for the new hires. Moreover, most companies have very brief hiring procedures that take only a day or two, i.e., from the time the applicant submitted his/her resume up to the time that he/she signs the employment contract.
Be that as it may, there is also a bad side to this story. Even though these companies attracted workers by hordes, they also suffered high attrition rates. This fact may be attributed to the peculiar working schedules in these companies. Almost all call center companies operate 24/7 which means that some employees will be assigned to work from 10 o’ clock in the evening up to 6 o’ clock in the morning. This is necessary because they need to approximate the working hours in western countries particularly the US where most of their client companies are located. Many call center employees cannot stand the difficulty of working in the wee hours that some of them got burned out while other got hospitalized. These are some of the hidden risks that come with working in call center companies.
I know this for a fact because just last month, my 24-year old neighbor-friend was rushed to the hospital because she suffered a mild stroke while working at 2:30 in the morning. She was assigned in the 10pm-6am shift for 3 and a half months straight prior to the incident. Luckily, my friend was able to recover but the doctor strongly advised her not to work in evening shifts anymore. But how could she possibly do that? She could only heed that advice if either the company allows her to change shifts or find another job. The second option is next to impossible at this point in time when finding a decent job may be likened to finding a needle in a haystack.
Raymond Roque
06-78143
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