The rise of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry has been tremendous in the Philippines for years now. In Asia, India is the undisputed BPO provider, but Philippines is now not far behind. The BPO industry has somehow helped in the alleged “brain drain” occurrence here in our country wherein a lot of the Filipino workforce opted to leave and work abroad for financial stability. According to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines, close to 300,000 Filipinos are employed by BPO companies. More and more fresh graduates and those who are in their 20’s – 30’s are choosing to work for a BPO company over corporate companies or companies abroad.

I, for one, chose to work in a BPO company. I have been employed in a corporate setting right after graduating from college and have risen from being a receptionist to an executive position. I could say, at that time, that I have followed a career path and have had quite the experience to prove my worth in that road. Five years later, I gave that up and chose to work in multimedia and now, in Hubport, a BPO provider.

You now ask the reason why.

For one, my income in the corporate setting was not even comparable to my friends’ who are working in the BPO industry. Like them, I work 8 hours a day but unlike them, I multitask a lot and even go beyond normal working schedule as a requirement of my position-that should be fine by me so long as I am well compensated. Comparing both, I realized that the amount of effort I put into my corporate job is way higher than the specialization needed in the BPO industry, yet I find that the latter pays better taking into account the effort rendered.

Nowadays, especially that prices and expenses are shooting sky high, I feel that having a higher income is a priority over the pride of having a corporate position that sounds really professional. No doubt, money is important these days. Here is an opportunity to earn without having to be overstressed. It is a spic and span job, I don’t have to run around to have things done. Why not grab it?

Since BPO almost often requires a specific skill or specialization, it is easier to focus on. The work hours is not the regular 8:00 am – 5:00 pm job thus allowing more time for me to tend to other things that I usually miss with the said regular job. I could still even have that pseudo part time job with the multimedia studio.

I am aware that the BPO setting may result to an odd lifestyle. I am even informed of complaints about the health hazards it may bring, still, I believe that I can always work my way around it. Every job in the world requires certain sacrifices to be made. The BPO industry is no different, yet I find more reasons, as of the moment, to choose it over any other.