I needed to refill one of my prescriptions, an internet and mail-order process my wife and I must use.
After typing my way to our profile, I discovered that all my prescription history had disappeared.
I called the firm’s toll-free number – and promptly spend several minutes listening to generic pseudo-music.
Finally, an interesting voice came on the line, then asked a question of a co-worker. My wife was listening in on the speaker phone call. I asked what language that was in the background. She recognized the sounds of Filipino, informally known as Tagalog.
Hindi ko naiintindihan (I don’t understand)
The industry in the Philippines has grown so fast that it has overtaken India as the call-center capital of the world. By next year [2016], experts estimate that the country’s BPO industry will generate $25 billion in revenue, accounting for about 10% of the Philippines’ economy and as much as the total amount expected to be sent home by the 11 million Filipino nurses, sailors, musicians and others working overseas.
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-philippines-economy-20150202-story.html
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Ever since Joahnna Horca lost her father, a doctor, in a South China Sea typhoon, her large family has struggled to make ends meet. So after Horca earned a college degree in social work, an older …
www.latimes.com
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Back in 2015 those call center jobs in the Philippines paid about $700 a month – “more than many general physicians earn in the Philippines…”
Pwede mo bang bagalan ang iyong pagsasalita? (Please speak more slowly)
Meanwhile, in this country call center jobs pay around $28,000 a year, about $2,300 a month, according to glassdoor.com. The foreign workers cited in the L. A. Times article all had college degrees: in this country most call center workers only need a high school education.
Here’s what really gets my goat. An American company I must use to get my prescription drugs makes me deal with a call center 8,400 miles away. Of course, the young lady started our encounter by saying she needed my name, home address, date of birth and Social Security number.
As a past victim of Identity Theft that didn’t make my day. I’ll bet lunch money that if confidentiality gets breached, it would be the Filipino subcontractor, not the American corporation hiring them, who would be “responsible.”
Bigyan moa ko ng superbisor (Give me your supervisor)
As often happens, the first and second person I talked to couldn’t do a damn thing to straighten out my account. Coming up on the 25 minute mark, I got transferred to a third person – with an obvious American voice and a much better phone connection.
In other words, all my trip to the Philippines did was waste time.
Now, if those million jobs shipped to greater Manila came back to America that would be more work for our neighbors. Yes, call centers often qualify as modern sweatshops. Yet, if employers lacked the overseas option they would have to take steps – and raise wages – to make the jobs attractive. As it now stands, employers can threaten to ‘send your jobs to the Philippines’ if workers balk. That real threat hurts American workers.
Oh, yes I finally got that prescription refill into the system. Alas, the core problem is claimed to be unsolvable, meaning I’ll have to call-in again when my other medicines need refills.
So, I’ve been researching a few Tagalog phrases, perhaps making my next call go faster.
Paálam (Goodbye)
Glenn