Pinoy Buzz: BPO

Call center agent with CKD warns about unhealthy lifestyle in BPO industry

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">If you are among the 1.3 million-strong business process outsourcing (BPO) workforce in the Philippines, you should pay more attention to your health as you are more prone to certain diseases such as chronic kidney disease (CKD).<br /><br />That’s according to a Facebook post by a call center agent recently diagnosed with CKD.  Such condition is characterized by gradual loss of kidney function over time that may lead to permanent kidney failure.<br /><br />In the viral post shared on the Facebook page Buhay Call Center Agent, the female call center agent revealed that she has decided to leave the BPO industry after 8 years for health reasons. She revealed how the unhealthy lifestyle of most BPO employees can compromise their health.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrD_L3dnhbSfokL5k_xhEbvXxBVoH_HXXY7mBQF_Jt4Kghh2y4F2II3HSxIrR0umbJGGjONXexiw8GUuRWJt7idl2T9yxw4Ixw2imqZhOT5mLqE7BxPH75-cJyI4QPgybfwh6BMZQX7Wh/s1600/call-center-ckd-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Call center agent with CKD warns about unhealthy lifestyle in BPO industry" border="0" class="img" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrD_L3dnhbSfokL5k_xhEbvXxBVoH_HXXY7mBQF_Jt4Kghh2y4F2II3HSxIrR0umbJGGjONXexiw8GUuRWJt7idl2T9yxw4Ixw2imqZhOT5mLqE7BxPH75-cJyI4QPgybfwh6BMZQX7Wh/s1600/call-center-ckd-2.jpg" title="Call center agent with CKD warns about unhealthy lifestyle in BPO industry" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PHOTO CREDIT: Facebook/Buhay Call Center Agent</td></tr></tbody></table>The unnamed call center agent said BPO employees should refrain from consuming beverages commonly drank by agents such as coffee, soft drinks, energy drinks, alcohol as well as supplements. She also advised agents to urinate if they need to and for team leaders, managers and work force to allow their agents to take a bio break.<br /><div id="unruly-unit"></div><br />Moreover, the call center agent encouraged other agents to see a doctor rather than self-medicate.<br /><br />According to her doctor, BPO employees are more prone to this disease because of their unhealthy lifestyle.<br /><br />“Yup, i was diagnosed with Ckd. Sabi ng mga doctor ko, isa sa mga prone sa ganito ay mga call center agents.... Dahil sa lifesytle naten.... Sa iniinom na mga gamot , sa pagwawalang bahala sa masakit sa atin before na hindi nalunasan (puro pain killers lang ),” she revealed. <br /><br />Towards the end of her post, she advised BPO employees not to take their health for granted. <br /><br />“Pero beshie, iba pala talaga pag nandun ka na sa situation.... Last Wed lang ako nadiagnosed. Akala ko simpleng ubo at sakit sa likod lang eh....<br />Ayun lang.... Basta mga peepz ingatan ang health lalo na ito talaga puhunan natin,” she wrote in her post.<br /><br />The country’s BPO industry is now the world’s leading destination for voice services and has generated $25 billion revenues in 2016.<br /><br /><center><iframe allowtransparency="“true" frameborder="0" height="784" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBuhayCallCenterAgent%2Fposts%2F1688150761197140&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></center><br /><b>-- Mini, The Summit Express</b></div>

Call center agent with CKD warns about unhealthy lifestyle in BPO industry

If you are among the 1.3 million-strong business process outsourcing (BPO) workforce in the Philippines, you should pay more attention to yo...

Youth groups hold ‘black graduation rites’ in front of DOLE

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">MANILA, Philippines - YOUTH activists gathered in front of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to protest the increasing prevalence of contractual employment among newly-graduates.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLllgTmvz9PL3fwLp-XyAW4s3zqWPpbTE8kSde5xHKx09-Qq8VtawmSfLwJIsMEbeoiAJIs1wQNvrvD8RdMwGcfxKjOJSYEdCIsB-7XEUyEjGe7-qRc-Am-yBEXDJC27jJ7_qhDXM_yO0v/s1600/rally-contractual.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Workers turn ‘Endo’ into demand to end contractualization. " border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLllgTmvz9PL3fwLp-XyAW4s3zqWPpbTE8kSde5xHKx09-Qq8VtawmSfLwJIsMEbeoiAJIs1wQNvrvD8RdMwGcfxKjOJSYEdCIsB-7XEUyEjGe7-qRc-Am-yBEXDJC27jJ7_qhDXM_yO0v/s640/rally-contractual.jpg" title="Workers turn ‘Endo’ into demand to end contractualization. " width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workers turn ‘Endo’ into demand to end contractualization. Photo Credit: bulatlat.com</td></tr></tbody></table>Student-leaders from SPARK – Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan, slammed DOLE for facilitating the dependence of new members of the workforce on “unjust jobs,” which offer low salaries, unfair working conditions and deny employees security of tenure.<br /><br />“Unfortunately for the youth, the government’s neglect for their welfare does not end with their graduation,” said SPARK National Coordinator Arvin Buenaagua. “Out of the estimated 1.3 million applicants who applied in nearly 4,000 job fairs facilitated by DOLE, almost only 400,000 were able to get jobs, with a majority of them relying on contractual work in BPOs,” he added.<br /><br />DOLE had recently said in a statement that 1.19 million jobs will come from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, claiming to provide adequate jobs for more than 1 million newly-graduates who are likely to face unemployment.<br /><br />“This reliance on contractual work does not address the mismatch of skill and work experienced by young workers,” said Buenaagua. “Without the promotion of a people-oriented industrialization across the nation, we will continue to rely on low-paying jobs responding to the needs of rich countries while people from our own country are tied to a life of poverty.”<br /><br />Buenaagua criticized DOLE for facilitating the prevalence of contractualization, which creates low-paying jobs and diempowered workers, who are bound by contract not to organize or renegotiate for better working conditions. “While contractualization makes us more palatable to foreign investors looking to cheapen their labor costs, it binds employees to low wages, unfair work hours and hazardous working environments, as well as insecurities about their source of livelihood every three to six months.”<br /><br />SPARK was joined by KAISA UP, a political organization based in the University of the Philippines, and speakers from Sanlakas partylist.<br /><br />“What we need in the next administration is a pro-people agenda which contains policies which respect the rights and dignity of the youth and the working class while honoring their potential and contribution to the country’s development,” said Leody de Guzman, Sanlakas Partylist’s first nominee. “This involves removing the DOLE Department Order A, which provides loopholes for companies to exploit workers by binding them to the level of contractual employess,” he continued.<br /><br />De Guzman also added that the minimum wage has yet to be raised to a level where it will serve as a sustainable income source. “We need to ensure that all workers and employees get living wages, sustenance enough for them to cope with the increasing burden of survival”.<br /><br />Joanne Lim of KAISA UP emphasized the role of contractualization in limiting the prospects for advancement in the youth sector, which is even harder especially given the current state of education system.<br /><br />“A great number of us enter and work to excel in college, enduring the high cost of tertiary education, in order to provide for our families and ourselves a better life,” said Lim. “Contractualization renders all our work to build a better future for ourselves and our families futile, considering that to some of us, it is a matter of life and death." - SPARK, The Summit Express</div>

Youth groups hold ‘black graduation rites’ in front of DOLE

MANILA, Philippines - YOUTH activists gathered in front of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to protest the increasing prevalenc...

US firm to open BPO-call center in MOA

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">MANILA, Philippines - Harte Hanks is consolidating its Manila operations and adding room for hundreds of new employees with the opening of the company’s BPO-call center at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Complex, in Pasay City on April 21.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7m48ZJ7lo-MZgB0pwOQaCZvqzCpsSvAiJl4Y_YcRRAa731tpNC8R8CKkOaGEx8XFIaqvUm258HW-MHNsTxBGIdAVulOkBvuH1rYamyj8kc_raSlB7SqgCsSBvqbfXtnunMqZ86-8Y5rF/s1600/Five-ECom.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Five E-Com center" border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7m48ZJ7lo-MZgB0pwOQaCZvqzCpsSvAiJl4Y_YcRRAa731tpNC8R8CKkOaGEx8XFIaqvUm258HW-MHNsTxBGIdAVulOkBvuH1rYamyj8kc_raSlB7SqgCsSBvqbfXtnunMqZ86-8Y5rF/s640/Five-ECom.jpg" title="Five E-Com center" width="560" /></a></div><br /><br />Harte Hanks Philippines, a subsidiary of the US-based marketing company currently employs about 2,000 people in its main and secondary locations in Metro Manila.<br /><br />The move allows the company, which has established its presence in Asia-Pacific with the launching of its call center in the Philippines over a decade ago, to integrate the secondary locations with the Pasay facility.<br /><br />“We have been always impressed by the skill and dedication of our employees in Manila and look forward to sustaining our growth here,” said Jonathan Bondoc Harte Hanks Manila-based Site Director, in a statement.<br /><br />Among Harte Hanks’ clients are companies known worldwide in information technology, computer software, sports media, banking, mobile phone and health insurance industries.<br /><br />Besides the Asia-Pacific, Harte Hanks has offices spread across North America, Europe and Latin America.<br /><br />“The Philippines’ consistent support of innovative business models such as buy-operate-transfer model and investment in dependable infrastructure priorities are just two of the reasons we are expanding our investment here,” added Ben Chacko, head of operational planning and strategy for Harte Hanks.<br /><br />The American outfit, whose call center business focuses on North American clients, started doing business in the Philippines with a buy-operate-transfer partnership in 2001.</div>

US firm to open BPO-call center in MOA

MANILA, Philippines - Harte Hanks is consolidating its Manila operations and adding room for hundreds of new employees with the opening of t...