I wrote this piece a year ago for a particular company. However, since I no longer work there and I've always treasured my rants here, I'm publishing this article as the latest blog entry. Come on, it's not THAT highfalutin. This is as grassroots as I can get. Haha.
The emergence of process outsourcing in the
business sector has often been called "revolutionary" for its ability
to change the conditions and positions of the marginalized. We hear about
historical charismatic personalities like Jesus Christ, Martin Luther,
Siddhartha Gautama, Mahatma Gandhi and Karl Marx, whose teachings transformed
societies as well as individual thoughts and emotions. In the same manner,
process outsourcing not only transformed the way in which entrepreneurs
transact business, it also provided companies from industrialized countries
alternatives to reduce capital and labor costs and increased
the source of revenue for Third World countries.
Different countries feel the triumph of BPO in
different ways, but its impact is most palpable among nations in the South that
have made ends meet just to develop themselves. This is one of the main reasons
why researchers on process outsourcing tend to brand it as revolutionary. Other
industries blatantly put a barrier between the rich and the poor, contributing
to age-old disparities in the social strata. However, process outsourcing in
the business sector tends to uplift the status of poorer countries on one hand
and trim down the income of wealthier nations on the other, which, if you look
at it much deeper, is truly remarkable. The balance which radiates in process
outsourcing confirms the existence of an invisible hand working to carry out
global justice.
Not many people have realized this one great
benefit of outsourcing. Many activists take to the streets to cry out for
equality between rich and poor, for corrupt government officials to step down,
for corporations to stop exploiting laborers, and for First World countries to
lower down tariff rates. These sentiments remain strong at present, but forces
that were hitherto unnoticed have now begun to hear the cries of the oppressed.
Dramatic as it may seem, but this is when outsourcing enters the picture.
Although admittance to the industry may be based on particular qualifications,
the incessant growth of process outsourcing firms for inbound/outbound call
campaigns, data entry, medical transcription, and backend office have opened
numerous employment opportunities for all kinds of people in society.
Regardless of the nature of one's work within the industry, process outsourcing
has an undeniable stake in changing the fortunes of Third World inhabitants as
labor rapidly migrates from the West to the East.
Is this not what Filipinos, Indians, the Chinese,
Malaysians, Indonesians and Thais are asking for? Is it not great that
outsourcing has allowed these nationalities to enjoy the benefits of
industry-level wages without the risks of migrating abroad and leaving their
homelands? Answering YES might be a little offensive to Westerners, who blame
process outsourcing hubs for the rise of unemployment in the West. Such
exportation of American, Canadian, and European jobs have resulted to firms
closing down or moving their production sites to take advantage of low-cost
labor in developing countries.
If you analyze it, however, onshore process outsourcing
is but a mere fraction of the entire Western commercial sector. It is ironic how industrialized countries complain about labor migration and
unemployment when the wealth and level of development they already attained
would have rendered them capable of generating more jobs in bigger and more
progressive industries. Why deprive developing countries of the chance to
prosper and industrialize? On a positive note, despite all the complaints, no
one can alter the truth that, in one way or another, outsourcing acts as the
invisible hand of global justice, giving industrialized nations the unconscious
initiative to uplift the conditions of developing nations by means of exported
jobs.
Whether willingly or out of compulsion, the
arrival of process outsourcing is an
uncalled for blessing to countries in the throes of development. Our business
patrons in the West should not see outsourcing as a scourge that reaps away the
fortunes of their people. Besides, they have all the resources to open up jobs
that we in the Third world could not. So if they have any kindness in their
hearts, they would leave process outsourcing to our care and allow us to serve their
country and their people to the best of our abilities. As Lula, President of
Brazil and human rights advocate, once said: "The true path to peace is
SHARED DEVELOPMENT [between industrialized and industrializing states]. If we
do not want war to go global, Justice must go global."
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| Here's a picture of Andres Bonifacio, KKK leader and Jose Rizal's staunch rival for the position of National Hero. May he always be a reminder of the benefits we reap when we fight for our freedom. May he also remind us to never stand and watch idly by. If you still have your wits about you and your body is not in any way incapacitated, then do something. Cheers, today the Philippines celebrates National Heroes Day! Hail the BPO for revolutionizing the domestic employment scene (sadly, at the price of self-preserving morals, contentment and simplicity). |
