Outsourcing in the Philippines!
BusinessWeek reports about the increasing IT jobs being outsourced to the Philippines.
The islands share a language and legal system with the U.S., and offer high skills and low costs. They could outrun India for outsourcing dollars - BusinessWeek
At this rate, dollar$ from Overseas Filipino Workers and revenues from outsourced work can go a long way to improving our economy. However, how long do you think will this business model stay profitable? Can it last us until 2030?
I’m asking this because the opportunities from the reported three billion dollar industry aren’t being taken advantage of.
Not Because You Can Means You Should
Call-center agents and transcriptionists might be getting better salaries than the average Juan, but their impulsive spending behavior sucks. Without the proper financial education and investment opportunities, a good portion of those hard-earned dollars are being consumed at want-based goods rather than being invested at money-producing assets.
You’ve probably heard of the saying, “Don’t give a man fish, rather, teach him how to fish.” Well, now that we were able to get hold of some fish, “Do we cook, serve and sell it to other people?” or “Do we eat it ourselves?”
Dollars from outsourced jobs can be a good thing for us - it can avail us of our needs and luxuries in life. However, it can also be a training for disaster. What do we do once we lose our low price advantage like what’s happening to India right now?
The saturation of India’s outsourcing market, increasing cost of living and developing infrastructures has raised the cost of outsourced jobs. But India isn’t giving up their jobs without a plan in mind. They’re upgrading their service-oriented work force from call center agents to consultants, IT managers and MIS people - something which we already have!
So, while the Philippines is at it copying India’s strategy, why not add a little planning for the future? You know, something about taking advantage of what we already have in terms of culture, work force and financial assets. Something that can improve the current business model to become a more sustainable one.