A Nation on the Line: Call Centers as Postcolonial Predicaments in the Philippines by Jan M. Padios

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-176
Author(s):  
Alden Sajor Marte-Wood
Keyword(s):  
Call Centers ◽  
The Philippines

THE WORKPLACE, THE SOCIETY AND THE WIDER WORLD: THE OFFSHORING AND OUTSOURCING INDUSTRY

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 145-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Hamp-Lyons ◽  
Jane Lockwood
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Call Centers ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Business Success

Workplace language assessment poses special issues for language testers, but also, when it becomes very large scale, it poses issues for language policy. This article looks at these issues, focusing on the offshore and outsourcing (O&O) industry as it is transitioning from native-speaking (NS) countries into nonnative-speaking (NNS) destinations such as India and the Philippines. This is obviously most impacted in call centers, where the ability of customer service representatives (CSRs) to communicate with ease with their native-English speaking customers is central to business success and can be key to a nation's economy. Having reviewed the (limited) research in this area, we take the Philippines as our example to explore how government, academe, and the business sector are dealing with the language proficiency and personnel-training issues caused by the exponential growth in this industry. Appropriate language assessments that are practical, while also being valid and reliable, are critical if the Philippines is to retain its position in this emerging market. Currently, call centers in Philippines complain of very poor recruitment rates due to poor language ability, and of poor quality communication outcomes measures: But how do they assess these key areas? We describe and evaluate the current situation in call center language assessment in the Philippines and discuss possible ways forward, for the Philippines and for the O&O industry more broadly.

Responsible Women

2019 ◽  
pp. 109-133
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Sallaz
Keyword(s):  
Birth Control ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Call Centers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Past ◽  
Call Center Agent ◽  
At Home

Women in the Philippines, and eldest daughters (ates) in particular, are customarily expected to serve as breadwinners for their families, both immediate and extended. In a country where divorce is illegal and birth control is controversial, too many Filipinas find themselves with a larger network of people to support. Whereas in the past, these “responsible women” would have had to leave the country as migrant workers, call centers offer them a new opportunity to stay at home. Working as a call center agent, in other words, represents a sustainable solution to the dilemma of breadwinning. As a case study of Hannah, a breadwinner, illustrates, these jobs are lifelines.

Firms

2019 ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Sallaz
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Call Centers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Theoretical Terms ◽  
Business Units ◽  
Phone Calls ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Labor Market

Firms and business units that control the technologies to handle phone calls actively constructed a global labor market for voice services. In theoretical terms, they can be considered a form of liquid “voice capital.” An analysis of consulting reports reveals how voice capital sees the world as graded according to cost and human capital. Such grading offers voice capital two potential pools of labor: India and the Philippines. The ethnographic literature on voice offshoring to India shows that there was no stable assemblage there. Men use call centers as steppingstones toward technology jobs, while women who work as call agents are stigmatized.

Turnover intent of new workers: social exchange perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicito Angeles Jabutay ◽  
Parisa Rungruang
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Call Centers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Task Interdependence ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Turnover Intent ◽  
Leader Member Exchange ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Member Exchange

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impact of task interdependence and leader–member exchange, as social exchange variables, on affective commitment and turnover intent of new workers in an industry with high attrition rates. In addition, the paper examines the mediating effects of affective commitment.Design/methodology/approachThe present study drew insights from the literature to formulate hypotheses that link the two social exchange variables on affective commitment and turnover intent. Through the utilization of the data collected from 441 call center agents working for eight call centers in the Philippines, the hypotheses were tested and analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results reveal that task interdependence and leader–member exchange are positive antecedents of affective commitment and negative predictors of turnover intent. Further analysis reveals that affective commitment fully mediates the effects of the two social exchange variables on turnover intent.Practical implicationsThe results imply that call centers can help improve new workers' affective commitment and reduce their turnover intent through job designs that can facilitate high task interdependence. Furthermore, training team leaders or supervisors to develop leadership styles that are more focused on people and relationships may also increase the agents' commitment and reduce their quit intention.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to demonstrate that social exchange variables can also impact the affective commitment and turnover intent of new workers in an industry known to have heavy supervisorial monitoring, high demands in terms of work quotas and high turnover rates.

Restless Gays

2019 ◽  
pp. 134-158
Author(s):  
Jeffrey J. Sallaz
Keyword(s):  
Call Centers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Gay Identity ◽  
Gender Identities ◽  
The West ◽  
The Public ◽  
Gay Community ◽  
Ways Of Being

Gay individuals in the Philippines have long been accepted in the public eye, yet have been discriminated against at work. The gay subculture has developed its own values and ways of being. A key component of successfully performing a gay identity in the Philippines today is speaking English well. It distinguishes one as urbane, cosmopolitan, and sophisticated. For the gay community in Manila, call centers have become known as a “gay paradise.” They are spaces wherein it is possible to safely enact gender identities. Nonetheless, gay workers remain restless, as they dream of leaving the country for the West or of pursuing a profession in the Philippines.

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