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World View: Focus on the Philippines
June 15, 2009
By Magdalena Munoz Shih and Marie Segura
The Filipino worker is a sought-after hire in many industries around the world. Over the last two decades, the stability of the Philippine economy has become greatly dependent on the dollar remittances sent by its millions of migrant workers in countries such as Saudi Arabia, The Emirates, Spain, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, and the U.S., to name a few. Locally, call centers and business process outsourcing centers have become a catch-basin for the annual crop of approximately 100,000 college graduates, and they continuously are searching for new talent to fill their needs.
These contact centers and finance and business process outsourcing service providers are expected to increase in number. In the e-Service Global Outsourcing Conference and Exhibition held in 2008, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stated that the Philippines employs 300,000 in the outsourcing contact center industry, and to be able to meet the growing demand worldwide, this number is expected to increase by at least 40 percent in 2009.
Training Path
How are the training needs of the Philippine worker met? In a Filipino's college years—if he has had the opportunity for a college education—the training largely focuses on preparing him for eventual entry into the workforce. A person's choice of study often is based on the perceived promise of financial gain an industry yields or on which industry is currently on the rise and, therefore, hires most. Over the last four years, Commission on Higher Education data show that the most popular college courses have been in the medical field, information technology, hotel and restaurant management, maritime studies, engineering and technology, education, and business administration and related courses.
At this stage, little attention is given to the development of soft skills such as critical thinking, leadership, decision-making, project management, assertiveness, problem-solving skills, culture education, and effective communication skills that go beyond simple language proficiency. Once the Filipino is absorbed into the workforce, he receives hard skills training meant to augment his basic skills toward the technology requirements and systems of the company he is employed by.
Soft skills training at this point usually is given to candidates for management positions or to white- collar staff. Many training companies offer these types of programs at various price ranges (anywhere between U.S. $50 to U.S. $500 per day per participant). E-learning is still an emerging training technique in the Philippines, and its use is still minimal. Most users represent only a small segment of the Philippine companies. Ordinarily, very little such training is offered to technical or production line members of the force. Not all companies can afford to train their staff on skills that are perceived as low-priority needs.
However, multinational or trans-global corporations, large local companies, call centers, and finance and BPO service centers usually have specific curricula. These are designed to develop and maintain a set of corporate values, develop competencies, improve productivity, develop corporate identity, build the team, and prepare Filipino employees to deal with their foreign counterparts.
Looking Ahead
To preserve the Filipino's edge in the global workforce, it is necessary to pay close attention to human resources training and development. Soft skills development is just as important as hard skills training in both the academic and work environments, so industry benefits from a strong technically equipped labor force and a forward-thinking, management mind-set.
Furthermore, a combination of hard and soft skills training opens doors for a more entrepreneurial mind-set—possibly an answer to the sharp down trend in the global economic climate that threatens the Philippine economy. Sound training, coupled with experience gained, provides the skills needed for a paradigm shift from employee to business owner. The Filipino worker then can become a job opportunity provider for others.
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