DISCONNECTED

Around fifteen minutes before I logged in for my shift, the phone system went down and all calls on the floor got disconnected. This was a big break everyone on avail are waiting for- evidence that indeed most agent on this account would rather avoid taking calls than do the job expected of them. It was a celebration of sorts as they had time at hand to chatter with those next to their stations. A supervisor informed me that it only was happening in Manila and our counterparts in Cebu are only the ones who are able to take calls, and they have only a few agents on avail to handle the massive queue. While those of us here in Manila rejoice, I was quite worried as every single second that passes by is a lost revenue for our company and that of the client. In this time of financial crisis, the agents should have realized this is not something to be happu about.

DEMANDING

It's scary how the business relationship between our company and the
client on which account I am assigned to has become sort of
sadomasochistic. The client do know very well it is the "bread and
butter" or the biggest client of the company, and that their departure
will definitely mean the break or make of the latter in the global
outsourcing industry.The former uses this fact to its advantage by
demanding seemingly impossible things in exchange for their continued
patronage of our company's services.

In just a matter of a year, the client have managed to demand at least
25% increase in the sales quota for our company while going tougher on
the requirements for incentives. Additionally, the client also have
indirectly imposed upon us calibrations on the quality standards that
have us almost begging customers for sales. It is a known fact that
they do not have the same high quota, strict metrics requirements for
incentives, and tough quality standards in their own center in the US.

I understand the position of our company on this matter-- the account
serving this client employs anything from a couple to three hundred
people; losing this client means letting go of these people. I would
like to believe that our company, especially now that it has been
bought out by a bigger conglomerate, can survive loss of such a big
client, and that it's main reason for keeping the client was to
continue providing employment for us, agents of this account.

Recently, the managers of the account came up with a mandatory 8 hours
overtime for agents to render within the month. The directive was so
sudden that it makes anyone think the spike in number of calls was
never announced by the client. We have no news about it but certainly
this should mean reduction in queue for our US counterparts,
presumably because of the bad economy of the US and they want to cut
down costs by increasing the volume of calls in the Philippine center,
as our hourly rates are less than half of their agents in the US.

I hope the client soon realizes the injustice they are doing with the
demands they have to our company. On the other hand, I hope also our
company can stand for its employees as we have done in its name. I
believe everyone do have compassion in their hearts.

FIVE, SIX

It has been a few months since the transition of management of my company from it's American upper management to Indian has been complete. Our company has been acquired by a big Indian owned conglomerate. The employees of the company though, who mostly are Filipinos, have not grown accustomed to seeing Indians from the management.

It seemed this is also true the other way around-- on my way home from work early this morning, I happened to share the elevator with an Indian national. I smiled at him and he seemed undecided whether to smile back or not. When we reached the ground floor, it was only then he smiled and asked for me to go first.

The truth is that I have always been fascinated by India and it's people since I was young. You probably can blame it to such stories as Jungle Book and Secret Garden. Indians are known for their perseverance and also as hardworkers. We have a neighboring family who are full-blooded Indians but have been living here in the Philippines for several years already. Some two years ago, their home was ravaged by fire, leaving them nothing but the clothes on their back and a few thousand Pesos of savings in a bank account. They have to start from scratch all over again, and it amazes me to see that in just two years the family is almost back to their former glory. All because they pooled their efforts. If only Filipinos have the same determination.

Most Filipinos only know Indians as the people who are in the lending business fondly called five-six-- simply, the system is called five-six from the example that if you borrow five pesos you will pay six pesos for it (I wonder why not instead one-two, three-four, or even nine-ten?). These people, or any Indian for that matter, are called by Filipinos as "Bumbay", apparently with reference to Bombay or Mumbai. The word "Bumbay" has become synonymous for Filipinos to being strict and always business-like.

These people at the office are alot more different. They are from the educated and professional lot of their country. Some of my colleagues fear of what could be the the outcome of apparent move by the company to replace people from the former management with those from their country. I understand the move, not only for the fact that the new owners of the company now are Indians, but also for that Indians have been in the BPO business longer than any other country in Asia. I'm not saying the former American management then are not experienced in this industry. It should be taken into consideration that India still is considered the number one in this industry. The Philippines certainly can use their expertise to further expand the BPO business here.

The so-called colonial mentality of Filipinos could be the culprit why most employees here in our company prefer the former American management then. Filipinos indeed are more accustomed to the American culture than Indian culture. However, we may be forgetting that their presence here may also be a culture shock to them. Yes, we do have alot in common as countries-- the humid and warm weather, the love for spicy foods, the song and dance numbers in locally produced movies. But then it may be startling for them to see our fenced highways, the presence of mall and fastfood in just about every corner, and the staggering number of gay people (discreet or screaming out loud) in the Filipino workplace (hahahahaha!).

I'm sure it's not just me-- I do love Indians, and as a matter of fact I am a big fan of M. Night; and well, yeah, Kumar Patel of Harold and Kumar fame (potentially also I may love Slumdog Millionaire with so much buzz about it, but I have yet to see it). I love their perseverance, steadfast faith to their religion, and let's just say everything that Mahatma personified. They said in every Indian lives a little Mahatma, so what's not to love there? Mother Teresa couldn't possibly be wrong, could she? My opinion is that if Filipinos are to emulate a particular race, it should be none other than Indians.

India is bullish about its future as a developed country. It has strategically positioned itself in the technology world, in basically subcategories like BPO that are largely unexplored before, and emerged as a stronghold for talents and skills that are required in the global community. Philippines have only been in the business for several years and could certainly learn from India. With the acquisition of our company by the bigger conglomerate, I sort of am having a vision of the two countries helping out each other-- with India providing the knowhow, and the Philippines augmenting the need for talents and skills.

The decision of the management to sell the company was largely due to the bleak forecast for the US and global economy in the coming years. Our CEO then must have known best to have decided about it. The conglomerate certainly is at a better position to absorb any impact of the global crisis to the operation of the company until everything gets better. The name of the subsidiary of the conglomerate, true to itself, swooped in to protect the company and the thousands it employs. The economics is that it is better to lose managment of the company (and get compensated for it), than have thousands of people lose their jobs (insert here the warming "aaaaaahhhhh").

All these said and done, I think the Philippines should look at Indian BPO industry not as a competitor, but rather a partner with whom we can grow and have a song and dance number with (with M. Night directing).