Our other national heroes

IT was the late President Corazon C. Aquino who first referred to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as “heroes” in a speech she gave to a group of domestic helpers in Hong Kong in 1988. But we cannot recall any president after Mrs. Aquino saying the same thing about our call-center employees. While many businesses were closing in preparation for Typhoon Ruby (international code name Hagupit)—and they certainly should—call centers across the nation were conducting “business as usual”.

The Philippines is now No. 1 in the world for “voice” call centers and No. 2 for nonvoice ones. The reason that we are so successful in this industry—one that is always given—is because of our English-speaking and well-educated representatives, and this is certainly true. The country has also gained a reputation for being disaster-prone, as well as being able to cope with the typhoons that frequently visit us.

Call-center companies have strong disaster-preparation plans in place, covering practically everything, from company-provided transportation during floods and resources to allow agents to stay at their offices, to financial incentives for agents who come to work during storms.

The credit for the success, however, must go to the Filipino men and women who actually man the phones during difficult times.

Outsiders really do not understand the logistics involved in handling the tens of thousands of customer-service calls that an average call center takes every day. These calls cannot always be effectively diverted to other locations. Furthermore, a storm in the Philippines cannot be allowed to impact a foreign client’s need to assist its millions of customers, as in the case of global telecommunications companies.

The Philippines has always come through, and that is one reason these foreign companies do business here.

The local call-center industry is projected to yield up to $27 billion in annual revenues and employs over 1.3 million Filipinos by 2016. We already have up to 1 million direct employees, and revenues now account for 6 percent, or $16 billion, of the country’s total gross domestic product.

During his recent visit to the Philippines, Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce President Dr. Urs Lustenberger talked about how the Philippines is benefiting from “a snowballing momentum, given its robust and growing economy.” Once an economy starts picking up speed, the growth takes on a life of its own. Lustenberger also mentioned our call-center and outsourcing business as an example of this snowballing effect.

We mark December as OFW month. Perhaps, it is premature to devote a whole month to our call-center employees. But while we are safe at home during the storm, there are hundreds of thousands of young Filipinos going to work to keep our economy strong, and they should be thanked. –BusinessMirror