Why are Filipinos attracted to the Business Process Outsourcing industry? This is a question which this article will try to answer.

In the BPO industry, the work times are usually at night. People in the BPO industry are working while the rest of the country is sleeping. Most of the times, BPO professionals work during holidays. Many important occasions are missed because of the demands of the work. In call centers, the agents don’t know who they’re talking to. There are times that some of them get harassed by perverts. In the area of customer service, the agents get the brunt of the customers complaints. They get irate customers most of the time. In a sense, they become emotional punching bags. In technical support, agents have to instruct people how to make their gadgets run smoothly. Most of the times, the callers don’t know what they are doing. In other aspects, the demands of the job are also very high. Clients expect high quality output in a short time. Sometimes, they move the deadline to almost impossible time frames.

It is easy to say that the salary is a big factor. Philippine BPO professionals earn anywhere from $250-$700 monthly. That’s more than the average salary of an ordinary office worker. Another easy factor is the job security. There will always be BPO companies ready to hire experienced even non-experienced workers. The BPO industry does not discriminate. People who have 2 years of college education are hired for jobs in the BPO industry as long as they are able to function in the jobs they are hired for.

But if we dig deeper, there are indeed prevailing reasons why Filipinos are attracted to the BPO industry. One very important reason is that there is always an opportunity for career advancement. The Philippine BPO industry is a dynamic institution. If you stay long enough, you will definitely earn your stripes, so to speak, and move up the corporate ladder. Unlike in the other industries where employees stay in their jobs until they retire.

Another reason is that there is an opportunity for advanced learning. This is because technology is evolving fast. So, there will always be new trainings to keep up with the changes in technology. In a sense, in order to be a successful Philippine BPO professional, you have to keep abreast with the latest innovations.

The discipline which is learned from working for foreign corporations is another attraction. The foreign companies demand excellence. This is a challenge Filipinos are gladly taking up everyday.

To end, this “love affair” between Filipinos and the BPO industry is going to be a long one. It’s lie to entities have come together to form a perfect union. What offspring or innovations this union produces is something we all have to watch out for.