Philippines Trying To Edge India In The BPO Industry - July 11, 2008

Business Process Outsourcing also known as BPO has only been managed by large firms and the Fortune 500 companies, but with the advert of globalization the trends are changing. China and India are the leading outsourcing countries in the world followed by Philippines. However, many American companies who are big players in the international scene are selecting BPO in the Philippines to run their off shore call centers. Unlike other outsourcing hubs of the world, BPO Philippines not only offers a high rate of exchange on its currency as well as an English speaking population but also a culture and lifestyle that is very much like western.

Being a third world country, Philippines still shares a big slice in the success of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. The outsourced voiced-based (or call center) remains huge in generating millions of revenue for the country over the past years. And speaking of it, India was the major hub of outsourcing but the Philippines is lobbying seriously to gain the paradigm shift in the outsourcing. When outsourcing began in the Philippines, it became an emerging industry offering systematic technology and never-ending job opportunities to millions of people. The BPO in the Philippines is attributed in the offshore market raking a total of $25.6 billion in 2006, landing third between India and China.

Net Fighting Of BPO Employees - July 7, 2008

It is redefining the way employee unions function. This ''e-union'', that was formed last month on the Internet for BPO employees, does not plan to fight companies and managements the conventional way. That is, through strikes and sloganeering on the streets. Instead, they plan to hit where it hurts the companies most. The e-union plans to talk directly to shareholders so that it affects stock prices. After all, the fear of a downgraded stock price will force companies to set their operations team and its people in order, the union believes. BPO Union, as the new group likes to call itself, also plans to engage clients of companies they are up against and tell them how these companies are repressing their employees.

"Clients should know the negative PR against the vendor could spill over to their own brand. Also, it could affect them if we ever suspend work with the vendor," says the chief of the BPO Union who refused to be named. While they are already very active on the net, and have had hundreds of hits since their inception, the e-union wants to remain anonymous for the time being. That''s because, there is a lot of negativity associated with ''unions'' in India and people have yet to embrace the greater meaning of what a union can be besides its ugly face, which is most visible.