The BPO Dream

Green pastures a couple of decades ago translate to Western countries, migration, dollars and Caucasians. We all love to explore and to take advantage of the luck and opportunities overflowing in the West. We strive hard to get out of our own country to find work that could uplift our lifestyle as well as our families. In those days, one only needed a certain amount of bravery, an ability to read, write and be resourceful to make it big there. Now it demands more than that. A highly specialized degree and a stronger stomach. More ore less these are basic requirements to cross and survive there. Ten decades later with the emergence of outsourcing, intense competition and the global economic crisis we all love to talk about, the green pastures may prove to gone local this time.

Efficient cost cutting seems to be the best option for corporations right now to avoid closing shop. And let's face it, Philippines has a highly competitive and hungry pool of educated professionals that could be considered efficient and 'cheap.' In Westerners' eyes, we have one of the lowest operational costs which include labor, office rent and cost of living. With having the western culture strongly embedded with ours, it's not much of a big adjustment if not for the tropical weather. But they don't necessarily have to cross to the east physically, Filipinos are known to be hardworking and honorable in work on-site or off site. A quick conference call overseas would be enough to handle a global project. Filipinos on site or off site are known to be god fearing, resourceful, dedicated and flexible to their clients needs. What more could Westerners ask for? Throw in a big bonus that we're good with English.

I worked in an outsourcing industry, a couple of years back when I was still trying hard to be an effective slave for a local banking corporation. The thought of outsourcing then was still vague to me. All I knew it was a call center and didn't demand much of what I've learned in college. After a couple of interviews, preening and questions, I was recruited by a top consulting firm and was assigned to be a pilot member of an outsourced team that was tasked to do database research and claims processing for a big health insurance company in the States. Already sounds good compared to my previous job.

My team mates, all of us who have different backgrounds from Architecture, Liberal Arts, Engineering to Business, were trained to work on systems, database and processes for the entire month. Our work required us to have meetings with our onshore counterparts as if merely attending your normal office meeting on site. It also meant that I had to endure a graveyard shift and sacrifice the already "lack of social" exposures even when I was still having a normal 8 am to 5 pm scheme.

The processes were dynamic and it was a huge leap from a traditional working environment to a linear and western one. From an intense paper-environment, I moved on to a paperless one. From a cluttered and cramped up working space, I went to working for a top outsourcing company that made me taste an ergonomic office lifestyle with free drinks, supplies and flat screen monitors. From a local organization that gives a stringent list of benefits and compensation, I moved on to a highly competitive one. From a traditional organization, I moved on to something modern. The work flow, the culture and the environment I really like except for the schedule. But for I liked the pace and the culture so much that I lasted two years full of relocating and erratic schedules. I survived and excelled until I got myself burned out.

Outsourcing seems to be the answer to companies and the nightmare to westerners especially if you're an onshore employee. I've been a sole witness and a mover on how we were efficient with what we were tasked to do. Not only did we meet it, we constantly excelled in it, which is a true Pinoy hardworking trait. I was a witness to our outsourced team expanding and our onshore counterparts slowly diminishing. At some points I felt bad, but doing the tasks faster and more efficient is something I've learned I shouldn't apologize for.

I was proud of what I did and my mind became open on outsourced functions that go beyond merely call centers and telephone sales. I got used to people asking questions on why I worked for a call center, well I just briefly tell them that I am not. Outsourcing, contrary to what most people think, is not just doing call center work. We're making the office global I would say doing different things. From analyzing, designing and back office processing, we offer and if others do not catch the point, I suggest they swim into the idea. They might not know what they're missing.

With the global recession going on, it's harder and harder to find jobs in a country where recession originated in the first place. The green pastures we once thought is slowly drying up. Unless you would want to throw your degree out the window and start taking very odd jobs there, it's more lucrative to stay in the Philippines now for a better pay and closer family ties. Thanks to outsourcing, companies bring the "honorable" jobs to us and not the other way around. Global corporations saw us, not only as their greener pasture, but a mirage of hope that could help them cut costs, be more efficient and be more global. Proud to say that the numbers are continuously rising as I type.

Aside from the typical voice calls, there are lots of jobs that are making itself known to us like research and analysis, financial reporting, transcription, web designs, IT infrastructure and management, human resources, legal matters, even graphics and publishing. Business Process Outsourcing, Shared Services and Knowledge Process outsourcing share a similar concept of cost efficient, highly professional and dynamic work environment. It is the new green pasture for some of us.

If some clients close down in the western countries, more and more organizations jump ship to ours to give us locals something to think about. Maybe our greener pastures have changed. Maybe it's time to view our country as one big hub of professionals eager to succeed in our own shores.

“Companies abroad have only two choices these days—outsource or surrender and close shop,” he says, pointing out the financial meltdown has made the Philippines even more attractive because it allows foreign companies to tighten their belts without sacrificing their service. (Manilatimes.net)

pix: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/01/big_outsourcers/image/intro.gif

The New Concept of Survival

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mark Cooper started his work day on a recent morning cleaning the door handles of an office building with a rag, vigorously shaking out a rug at a back entrance and pushing a dust mop down a long hallway.

Nine months ago he lost his job as the security manager for the western United States for a Fortune 500 company, overseeing a budget of $1.2 million and earning about $70,000 a year. Now he is grateful for the $12 an hour he makes in what is known in unemployment circles as a “survival job” at a friend’s janitorial services company. But that does not make the work any easier.

“You’re fighting despair, discouragement, depression every day,” Mr. Cooper said. (TIME.com)

It's sad, but it made me think. If I were to be put in Mr. Cooper's position, what would I do? Would I have enough bravery to do what he did? I would probably say yes, but it will take time and internal battles to make it work. I wouldn't be a janitor or a baker though just because I'd eventually get fired from those too. But I think I could make a good typist, librarian or someone who reads to old, filthy rich people for a living.

Survival is the name of the game. Just like any game of survival we cling on to whatever that WOULD keep us alive. In the primitive concept of surviving the wild or the jungle, we get ourselves dirty, strap off our good clothes, eat manageable to unsanitary food and find ourselves so far from our ideal way of life. That is such a primitive concept of looking at it because now we have a new concept.

Affluence and security are easily targeted in this global recession that leave couples and professionals crippled. Top paid executives have now become janitors, bakers, call center agents and contractual professionals.

Prestige, Power and Pride, things that these people once hold valuable, are traded off for one thing that helps them to survive. A Paycheck.

But the Paycheck of Survival is not always promising. It might come from professions these people wouldn't think of doing. A top manager and an executive, doing janitorial work, is mind and heart wrenching. A corporate executive doing call center jobs and baking weren't realistically acceptable. It's a harsh world and merely "surviving" puts us in that spotlight.

In my opinion, no one should ever feel retrenched or fired in their entire lives unless they deserve it. It's like a relationship that has gone sour when you have no idea what you've done to deserve it. It's even worse than cutting relationships because emotion is not the only thing on the line. In unexpected cutting of jobs, emotions and actual physical lifestyle are challenged. After retrenchment, another challenge seeps in underemployment.

But when survival is concerned we wouldn't care for trivial things. We tend to shove away pride and all intangible things that we hold dear for that one paycheck. We'd worry about fulfillment and success later. The justifications of continuing to live, lies in each and every one of us. In Survival, we cling on to every bit of hope no matter how unattractive it might be. In survival we must never lose hope.


NEED A TYPIST?

http://blogs.sun.com/bnitz/resource/typist.jpg

Gen Y

"Baby boomers (that means us: Born 1980's-2000's) are entering the international workforce and do not believe in long term employer-employee relationships that are an essential part of life. They constantly keep their eyes open on the next best thing and immediately move elsewhere. They go for more flexible or leisure time, where the boss is approachable and continually interacts with them, and there is a modern and fashionable culture of team work and sharing. Instant gratification is needed. They want their questions answered, but they don't listen, and experience is seen as very little value."

Western model and culture value fresh thinkers and have the capacity to accommodate anyone who is willing and bold enough to contribute to the table. With the global interactions fueled by outsourcing, we Filipinos, at least in my generation, have experienced and seen the effects of these Western culture. Priorities and expectations of new Gen Y employees have shifted. What we value is irrelevant to the past. The restless and achievement-hungry professionals go for the gold and stop for no one. Don't be surprised to see managers at 24, VPs before 30 working in such a flexible and flat model that would leave seniors filing for early retirement. Not all people could cope up in a much dynamic atmosphere and have their old grown wisdom valued to a minimum.

It has its risks though in this country. Filipinos hug seniority like an immunity token. Egos go higher with age brackets. Been a witness and guilty.

The New Wallstreet Terms

This absolutely cracked me up.

I got this from one of my favorite eco-blogs, THE BIG PICTURE.

Here are the new or "real" meanings of the terms of our dynamic times.


CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER -- What my broker has made me.

STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected.

MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW -- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.

YAHOO -- What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS -- What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse.

PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use.

Numerati. Interesting.

Managing workers is tough. It’s not as mechanical as managing computers, processes and reports. It’s never going to be easy. When you want to manage people, the person who is doing it should rely on fostering good relationship, sound instincts and people skills. Aside from the daily operational deliverables, major stress comes from relating with difficult people, managing their growth and direction.

But according to this interesting article that I’ve read, written by an HR consultant, there’s this mathematical scheme popularly known as “numerati” in managing employees. This method eliminates all other unnecessary, often grueling procedures in people management and focuses on the factual/mathematical solutions that make the whole people management convenient and accurate.

Baker says IBM’s “numerati” scheme is ambitious. This is how it works: “Picture an IBM manager who gets an assignment to send a team of five to set up a call center in Manila.”

“She sits down at the computer and fills out a form. It’s almost like booking a vacation online. She puts in the dates and clicks on menus to describe the job and skills needed. Perhaps she stipulates the ideal budget range.”

“The results come back, recommending a particular team. All the skills are represented. Maybe three of the five people have a history of working together smoothly. They all have passports and live near airports with direct flights to Manila. One of them even speaks Tagalog.”

Interesting, huh? In this way, nothing’s getting bypassed. Every option relies on the person’s capabilities, skills and factual strengths to be maximized and chosen in such a mathematical way that is accurate and well devised. The truth is, the result is just a form of recommendation and not the only proposed solution. The personnel manager still has to be the one to do the weighing if the solution presented is effective or not. The point here is that the most accurate data is presented based on the system’s calculation thus eliminating clutter. It makes us, humans, tower above computers and be more efficient as well. Personnel managers are still essentially managers. They are still the ones who would eventually decide.

Advertise hard. Silence is not advisable.

I read once in a very informative blog that whatever happens, any big corporation facing turbulent times, should not stop investing in advertising. With all the financial pandemonium that's been going on for the past few days, some institutions survived, some barely survived and some tread down to history. In fact, most of us felt we didn't know how bad it was. We all just went with the flow, reading news and making our own analysis and actions. It seems no one from the damaged fence is making a clear and convincing banner of hope.

I was having lunch with Kegler last Friday and we kept talking about the crisis. He is well informed with the movements as I think I am since we tread the same industry waters. We agreed on the perception of how rumors and silence to it may shift the destiny of companies. No matter how stable the company is when a rumor hits, that institution might end up in shambles. Investors, us, being more cautious right now, would not have enough time to study and drill through analysis. It's expected that if rumors and uncertainties are in the air, we bail out. It's simple as that. It's natural and it's expected.

This is where strong advertisement comes in.

Advertise strong and advertise like there's no tomorrow. It's the only way to reach out to clients. Despite the turbulent times the company has to at least calm the public and reach out in a swift and effective way they should already know how. It is through good advertisements, press releases and broad sheet interviews that could strengthen them and buy them their safety and trust from the public.

This morning, I chanced upon this article in NY Times of Vikram Pandit, Citigroup's CEO. He discussed the global bank's standing. He seems pretty optimistic about the giant. It's not like I don't know. He's been sending emails to Citibankers all over the world, but nothing beats a a public strong article. Better than advertisement really.

In this case, silence is a deadly choice.

Read Interview here.

Sequel to the Finance Drama

I don’t know about you, but I think I couldn’t digest my bagel this morning. I was reading the financial news about the heated financial corporation meltdown in Wall Street. After Lehman and Merrill Lynch’s fates were concluded, the wolves or the reporters are now waiting at the main office entrance of AIG in New York. I don’t think they’re looking for a specific person to interview. I think they’re trying to take shots and comments from AIG employees leaving the building. They’re probably doing an eerie montage as a precedent for the “dreaded” things to come…like bankruptcy.

Lehman, Merrill Lynch and now AIG? Although I’m concerned about the world’s financial industries in general, because that’s where I’m at right now, I know it’s already gone personal when alarm hits AIG. Damn it! AIG is one of the largest insurance Companies based in New York. But biggest, oldest and most respected do not really matter now, huh? American Insurance Group or the parent company of PHILAM LIFE here in the Philippines is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. Lord, help me! I may not be a certified graduate of commerce, and I may not be an expert to explain nor fully understand the nitty gritty details that go behind the financial stage, but I do follow economic newsletters and broadsheets to keep me afloat somehow. I may not see the micro side and the whole arguments on derivatives, stocks and trading, but I react as a part of the public and the investor community.

Some of my savings, well…most of it, I have invested in this upgraded personal insurance that I got when I was 20 years old, using my own hard earned money. I’m paying it semi-annually for five years and I only have 1 more year to go before I just wait for it to mature. I’ve been a very responsible client and I pay on time. I’m the investor who really doesn’t mind not having enough Current or Savings money in my bank account as long as I dispose my money in insurance, something that could really secure my future. AT the current moment, I’m still building up my finances from scratch after a year of study and hiatus while spending on bigger things like necessities, parties and such. It’s hard and I take these things seriously. Ever since 19 years old, I’ve never asked my parents for anything. I pretty much spend on my own needs. I may not be that proud on my current savings now, but I’m happy I’ve invested in insurance, being independent enough to spend for my own lifestyle, necessities and luxuries, and still manage to survive no matter how financially bruised I am. But please, having AIG on the brink of bankruptcy, is something I’m not quite prepared to handle.

I may be missing salient points here or I might be making an investor’s frantic reaction, but I can’t help but express my worries since AIG is the parent company of Philamlife Insurance, my insurance. I called my mom and told her my story and expressed how I wanted to safeguard my money. My mom told me that Philamlife is the biggest, most stable insurance company in the Philippines and I shouldn’t make rash decisions that would make me end up in the losing end. I’m just being paranoid, as usual. But, the layman and normal JOE syndrome constantly nudge me. I may be making an uneducated and uninformed analysis, but sometimes, as humans, we tend to worry and make our needs and options as primitive as can be. Protect your resources, protect your future.

But don’t worry. If you’re thinking that I’m hyperventilating now, making a few phone calls and harassing my agent to pull out something. I’m not. I’m still pretty much incorporating things objectively and trying to soak up whatever information I could gather from financial colleagues, broad sheets, economic newsletters and seasoned financial experts. I may be worried and being too primitive to protect my resources right now, but I’m still in full control to learn and understand what’s happening before I result to rash decisions. In fact, I’m not deciding anything. I’m just studying and letting the big guys, the guys who certainly know more about this than I do, handle it. Because they might be CEO’s, executives and full blown experts in the technical and macro side of it, but they’re human and they know what these investments mean to us normal people (I sincerely hope so). And I’m pretty much sure, that they have investments as well. So, I’ll just be silent, let them be, and pray I get my investment back, with profit, please!

http://manilatimes.net/national/2008/sep/17/yehey/business/20080917bus3.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/worldbusiness/17markets.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26723140/page/2/ (What does this mean for YOU)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/17aig.html?_r=1&oref=slogin(Pro AIG)

Financial Soap Opera

I have been following my own version of “an intense, fast paced soap opera.” It has the same or higher level of excitement, intense storyline, has gigantic and magical proportions, has a global audience, and most importantly it’s not make believe. Whatever’s happening, bad twists and good ones are real. Trust Wallstreet to stage its own show and it would leave the world gasping for breath.

I was first exposed to this popular “street” when I was in grade school, watching some popular 1980’s flicks about the things that happen in Wallstreet. Because of its popularity, Hollywood even managed to make a film self-titled plainly as Wallstreet starred by Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen. But I like Trading Places, Working girl and Bonfire of Vanities better. Later on, I began to read to Susan Howatch’s novel “The Rich are different.”

When I was a child, when I hear the word Wallstreet, the words that I would immediately think off are: Complicated, rich, men, business, suits, New York, Tom Hanks. Actually, most of these words that I’ve associated are true. It’s in New York and it houses the global and powerful corporations, garnering its term as the financial powerhouse of the world. According to history, it’s the first permanent house of the New York Stock exchange as it evolved into a geographic community of global and financial corporations. A company has never really reached the highest financial status, if not one representation, is housed in this popular “community.”

Some of the drivers of this community are the global financial corporations that we highly respect like Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan etc. These are giants that are experts in making money and sustaining money. NO one knows investments and money like they do, but the recent and ongoing financial crisis fueled by the credit crunch and sub prime disaster made, the once invincible community, fall down on their knees and hold on to each other. Their blows, wounds and demise shook the whole financial world and changed people’s lives globally. It is quite alarming since these financial corporations, where we entrust our money with, should be strong firms secured with capital and not institutions filing for bankruptcy.

But just like any Soap operas, certain evils come to destroy the protagonists while certain twists and turns tend to make viewers gasping. Some are victims and some emerge as White Knights that play heroes to the story. Just like this new chapter that will go down to history today. “Stunning Fall for Main Street’s Brokerage Firm” reported by NY Times tells the story of Merrill Lynch, the American nation’s largest brokerage firm and a global financial name as it surrenders to Bank of America for USD 50.3 Billion in Stock. John A. Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, decided to sell after billions of losses.

In some points, one should be happy as it was salvaged and acquired by BOA, yet employees of Merrill Lynch, most of whom are not yet sure if they are going to be absorbed by the new plantilla of BOA, feel sad because Merrill Lynch has always been independent and powerful. It was a soap opera of sorts since the people have always stood by the pillars of hope. A company as powerful and big as Merrill Lynch, which even “surpassed USD 1 trillion in client assets under management in 1990’s,” has always steered clear from being deathly. They tried their very best to keep afloat and fight back despite billions of losses. Top executives even managed to attend recent town hall meetings to address the concerns of employees, and told them that Merrill Lynch’s capital base was stable and assets were being managed. They even set a brighter vision for 2009. Little did they know that the company wouldn’t even reach Christmas.

The twists and turns, the fall of a giant and the surge of emotions bested the usual soap operas. This is primetime and real time as it gets. Aside from some employees losing their jobs, there’s also a sense of failure and hurt for the company. Sometimes it’s not just about the money, but affiliations as well.

Aside from Merrill Lynch however, the skies are not opening up for Lehman Brothers, another company, far worse than Merrill Lynch, which was looking for their White Knight last weekend. No one came; and they ended up facing an agonizing death with a capital B for Bankruptcy. The 158 year old Investment bank, once a powerhouse and the most respected, now gears for liquidation.

Every company in Wallstreet is tightening their belts and playing the “wait and see game.” Compared to what I’ve watched in past movies before, Wallstreet is not that glorious as it used to. Although, like in any other soap operas, the protagonists will always come out with a vengeance and ultimately achieve a sweeter victory in the end. Like in soap operas, no matter how desperate the situation might be, there is always hope and some drastic turn around. Wall Street as a real Soap opera of our times? Highly Possible.

Unemployment: A Global Change

Every country is tightening their belts as ripples of inflation hit across continental seas. It may be a product of the credit crunch tied up with high pricing of oil. Everyone is affected one way or another, ask United States to tell the story.

United States, being the economic and powerful giant, is pained greatly. They are in recession. A country as powerful as this always stood as a beacon of opportunities, and not a dessert of credit crisis and unemployment. Eastern folks or folks across the globe go to the States to enjoy a liberated and a democratic setting while nurturing a much sustainable lifestyle. But the bubble of security and luxury that most enjoy in their "greener pasture" is slowing deflating.

It's not new to hear that unemployment rates are steeping high in the states. US Jobless rate rises past 6% since 2003. According to Bureau labor of statistics in US, 84,000 jobs have been shed. If you're thinking that these jobs are merely in production, since most of the factories have closed shop, well think again. If you're following the business news, eversince the first quarter of this year, Investment bankers in the struggling financial corporations such as Citigroup, Sachs, Lynch and Morgan Stanley to name a few, contribute greatly to this statistics. But statistics have its own way creeping at our everyday lives. My friends and I have experienced it. Bags, a friend of mine, was assigned in London for three months in Morgan Stanley Headquarters. On her last day, before she goes back to the Philippines, there were bankers who got sacked. I for one was employed by a thriving start up company based in New York. We expanded and faced lots of opportunities and funding, but slowly ended up in a drastic liquidation process in New York, then in the Philippines. I've read lifestyle news feature that coincide with the economic meltdowns where investment bankers, who enjoyed a stable and flamboyant economy before, are now faced to sell their respective apartments in very reputable locations. Other real estate agents know as much about the unemployment crisis, that some refuse to entertain tenants who hail from the financial sectors.

Now that US is facing recession, factories and businesses started to close down, reshape and move elsewhere. This is where Eastern countries, like the Philippines and India, come in. We're not only talking about Call Center Posts. We're emphasizing on OPERATIONS.

It's true that outsourcing initially only meant doing Call Center deliverables, but not any more. Outsourcing eventually takes in the more complex, in house operations of global companies. Taking example Accenture, which is a leading global company in Outsourcing. The organization that started offering outsourced services of IT consultants to global companies, expanded by offering more services by hiring analysts, specialists in the fields touching research, accountancy, data management and procurement. Other outsourcing companies are Convergy's, IBM Services, RR Donnelly and other minor local outsourcing corporations. Companies like these have a considerable spike up in their revenues.

However, other global corporations such as Citigroup, Deutsche and HSBC have tapped the Eastern market and have pooled qualified resources to do Shared Services operations. Shared services is quite different from"outsourcing." In Shared Services there is no third party involvement. Employees are hired and included in the company roster. Shared services are done by bigger and global corporations to extend their operations in low-cost areas. Some operations like data analysis, accountancy, financial reporting from the US is immediately transferred to hired Citigroup employees in Korea, Philippines, India or even Costa Rica. In Shared services, Benefits and positions are recognized across the globe under one company. Citigroup now currently transfers data and key operations to strategic points in the world. In 2003, Deutsche has set up their regional office in the Philippines with regards to doing their change planning management, business analysis, IT and accounting services. They haven't stopped since. They saw the improvement in cutting down their expenses while there's the availability of resources here. Currently, they're relocating for a much bigger office to accommodate another round of massive hiring. HSBC in the meantime, is slowly setting up their operations unit here in the Philippines that would manage other global HSBC operations aside from the already established HSBC call center. Some companies like Chevron and Shell have already followed suit.

Some Western managers were even forced to relocate to different Asian countries just to continue working with the corporation. They've rendered sacrifices to leave everything behind just to go through this new global organization model. All in all, we are all in the phase of adjusting and establishing the new structure.

As businesses are thriving here whether it may be in outsourcing or shared services, it's quite understandable that some of our western counterparts see this as a major contributor to the rising US unemployment rate. Politicians have greatly expressed their views in it. Some conservatives bash outsourcing, some liberals encourage the global trend. Some analysts here in the Philippines, especially in operations and data migration, are continuously experiencing heated discussions with their western counterparts just because the westerners are uncomfortable with CHANGE going against them. Some call center agents, even manage to receive slip-ups of rants from their Western counterparts. "You stole my job!" Sometimes, you just have to let it go. Sometimes you have to understand it in their perspective. It's not advisable to just think that "you were just hired for it" and couldn't care less. It's better to be sensitive about it. It makes one appreciate life more.

A charismatic and enthralling Citigroup Business Services Regional Head, Nigel Romano, mentioned in our recent Town Hall that in this job and time where everything's gone global, we would be dealing with co-analysts and business partners all over the globe. We may be having constant conference calls with different Asians, Europeans and Latin Americans at the same time. We are being multi-cultural in business structure. Some are not going to be nice to us, especially if change and migration are involved. We just have to "accept it and respect it." There's no other way. Change is very difficult and painful. It's difficult for people who will be managing change and it's painful for people who will be submitting to change.

That's why when you see news like rise in unemployment rates, even if it's not within the confines of your geographic territory, one should be sensitive about this. Change is painful and difficult. It's not something done overnight in a global scale. In order to do so, one has to know his position to be able to understand this modern "wheel of fortune." Now it's become a global turn and every turn orchestrates a certain change. If people could extend their ounce of understanding, then encourage them, because there is nothing as painful in losing a certain relationship with a person, and having to lose a job that you love and sustains you.

Other countries' losses are other countries' gains

Do not be surprised if there's a hiring frenzy or various global corporations haggling for some office space in Makati, Alabang, Fort and Ortigas. Ironically, unlike some people who are migrating to the West for greener pastures; wealthy and powerful corporations from the west are seeing the East as their own version of greener pastures. Thanks to the continuous success of outsourcing through cheap and competitive labor, Eastern countries are now the answer to the needs of these corporations to recuperate from global economic crisis.

Big financial institutions such as Citigroup, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank (2003) have allocated their operating units in Asia, majority in India, Singapore and the Philippines, as their primary plan to cost cut and be financially smart about the eco situation. I remember when I was still in Accenture, Deutsche Bank started to establish its operations here in the Philippines. Hiring was massive and processes were fast. It only took various trends and patterns for team leads and associates to be pirated by the new institution promising higher pay, benefits and growth. It was a tough playing situation for other 3rd party outsourcing companies to lose valuable resources to the migrating global corporations. It doesn't help that opportunities in Singapore and Dubai continue to flourish. I remember a rumor one time that some outsourcing companies requested Shell Shared services or Chevron to freeze hire candidates coming from their organizations to prevent massive pullout of resources. Everything from IT, Call Center posts, BPOs, Back office work and operations are slowly being migrated in Asia. I too have experienced and became a player of such. Admittedly it served me and most of my colleagues well for numerous opportunities in global corporations.

I hate to sound like Gary Cole in the play Avenue Q singing "Schadenfreude" (Taking enjoyment of someone else's misfortunes). But whatever fortune we may have now should be maximized and put to sustainable use, because when the time comes the West might think of pulling back or inevitably pulls back, we have now the capability to initiate our own gains.

For the Singapore Bound

My dear friend Tracy Aquino will be having her despidida this Saturday for she is flying to Singapore. Wait, she might be the nth Filipino person who will be migrating there, I'm sure. Professionals, restaurateurs, IT experts have been flocking to Singapore as the new haven of choice. It's nearer to the Philippines. The climate is nice. There are lots of Pinoys. There's a good salary range on top of it. And it's a faster, cheaper and accessible destination that allows you to visit your dentist in the Philippines twice a year or spend the weekend when feeling homesick.

Singapore has evolved all right and it is staged to get the coveted spot on the most globally competitive country next year, which means US will take the back seat. Finance, infrastructure, health and education are prime considerations that ultimately make this happen, but one should not forget GEOMANCY or Feng Shui.

Singapore's Flyer (Big Eye to London), is on the best spot according to Feng Shui experts but apparently its movement is in the wrong direction that might take away the fortune of the city. Singapore has already answered this, thanks to GEOMANCY. It's a Good fact to know for migrants and locals of the new Tiger that everything is still or will remain greener in their chosen pasture.

How to Do the Credit Card Background Check

Since I'm on a roll discussing credit cards, I think there are some unorthodox ways that might be implemented in my LALA-world. Aside from acquiring the basic information of the individual, there are a couple of psychological and situational investigation that need to be administered if one is credit-card worthy.

1. PRIDE CHECK

Pride is always seen as a bad thing, but the importance of it in this setting might prove beneficial. A person with intense pride of himself and his capabilities as a consumer will find a ballooning debt hindrance to the status. The person with intense pride is assumed to keep finances manageable lest his reputation be tainted. Although it could also work in an opposite direction. Intense pride might not allow him to seek other self-demeaning alternatives to settle debt. There should be a test that involves situational analysis and perception check on how a person rates and views his "pride."

2. REAL BACKGROUND CHECK

Background checks are often limited to fields and establishments. But the real background check should be done through friends, colleagues and confidante. Investigate the person through informal people he or she has transacted with. I know some people who cannot even afford to initiate paybacks (No matter how long it's due) or pay credit money borrowed from friends and families. It says a lot on how a person is financially responsible. Usually this unwanted behavior transcends to the struggle in managing a credit card.

Interviewing friends, families and people, who know very well or have been witnesses to the debtors spending and borrowing habits, is the key for an upclose background check.

3. RESOURCE CHECK

Let's face it, not all people who have credit cards have an amazing savings account. The important thing to impose the power of responsibility in this setting is to verify if that person has a continuous pool of resources. It's more advisable to know that the person has a steady source of income backed by a stable savings account.

Credit card: Friend or Foe

I own a credit card, two to be exact. My first credit card, Metrobank, was given to me by my authoritative father as a gift in my middle college years. Since I'm the type who always had a hard time asking him for some money for mere basic things like clothes, shoes and books that I couldn't afford in my earlier academic years, I constantly voiced out my detailed needs to my mother. My mother, out of irritation, wanted me to tell him directly. But I just can't. Hence, one day out of the blue, he gave me one lengthy financial lecture and gave me my first credit card.

Seeing my first credit card, I should've jumped for joy and started to swipe like crazy. But after that lecture, I only saw it as tempting plastic you carry around with you that weighs like a chunk of responsibility. My father, out of his confidence in me (since I'm not really a shopper, and my expenses are limited to basic retail interests only), told me to use it for whatever it is that I need and want within reason. In that way, I wouldn't have a burden asking him for something.

I let the first month pass and didn't use my activated card just yet. I wanted my first purchase to be memorable, but my dad called up and insisted I try it out to see if it already works. At that time, I dragged Vanessa So with me to Glorietta and decided to get a pair of pants in Giordano, since it was on Sale. I swiped and got my first purchase ever. But my relationship with credit cards up to now hasn't changed since day 1.

Now that I manage two credit cards on my own I still don't swipe like crazy. I only use credit cards for things that I know I could afford to pay on the next due date. Every time I swipe my credit card there's this mental calculation in my head to see if I have already reached my limit. Naturally I'm only human, I have made a couple of unwanted mistakes in "overswiping" and once I've realized that, I leave my credit card at home, set aside estimated amount of money to pay for next due date (which is the painful part), and start spending with cash. And since I don't withdraw or carry much cash with me, I tend find reasons not to spend at all.

I know the feeling of power, convenience and gratification credit cards impose on us. It makes us instantly forget that we're actually paying for something until the bill arrives. It even serves as a an accounting buddy especially if you're a shopper, since all transactions are detailed to give you the knowledge of where your "money" went. It's convenient to carry just one plastic than lots of cash. It's a blissful financial tool, until you get consumed and blinded by it.

I must give credit to my father for imposing a subtle financial schooling in me and also give credit to myself for generally being a non-shopper and practically a bore for sticking to the "rules. But unfortunately not all people are thoroughly educated on the power of credit cards. Most people find out the hard lessons when they find themselves in credit debt. Credit cards can be seen as a salvation, a positive power and friend when used wisely. By wisely means that Credit Cards are not there to be used freely if there are no available resources to pay for the balances. Credit cards do not extend and increase financial resources that aren't there in the first place. Credit cards at the end should always make the person more financially empowered and not financially muddled

Nowadays, one would easily find himself being offered by Banks issuing Credit Cards as easy as 123. Yes, they still do background investigations, but with the looming global financial crisis, one would hardly think it's enough. Not all, who have cards are responsible, and even some who have made mistakes cannot afford to rise up above their financial turmoil. Add collective individuals and what you have is a form of debt ridden society and financial crisis that have reached global. The attitude we have on our credit cards seem very personal and paltry, but it's a representation on how we view financial accountability and responsibility.

Credit cards for me should always be a form of a friend or a convenience for those who could "AFFORD TO MANAGE ONE." If they had the credit card under blinded or wrong pretenses, then it's a downward relationship from then on. So now whenever I see or know someone who got his or her first credit card ever with that ever glazed look, I do hope that beyond that excitement shelters an ounce of knowledge, sense of responsibility and awareness of having that powerful plastic in his or her life.

PS. It's okay to whine when you see the bill, more of like a wakeup call to your responsibility. But what matters is being able to put it to rest.

Company Royals on Eggshells

No one wants to get sacked, fired or terminated in any organization. It's an unfortunate professional situation, almost synonymous to "breaking up" with someone. It destroys the morale and it robs the person of professional and financial security. Not everyone goes through it and it's something unimagined until you're already experiencing it. Here in the Philippines at least, firing people is not a common practice compared to our Western counterparts. In this country, the usual factors that involve termination are: (I believe according to order)

1. Company Shut downs, which means that the company might have closed shop, assets being liquidated, or the organization has trimmed down to cut costs (it's unfortunate if that includes, you), which inevitably forces management to cut people who they think of "no value" or doing "repetitive" functions. Ouch

2. Legal and Personal Matters, which incorporate various illegalities in the workplace. It might be a form of harassment, fraud or plain corporate corruption. Personal Matters are often minimal that's usually fueled by physical health or psychological reasons.

3. Poor Performance of the employee. In the Western setting, it's more cutthroat than what we experience here. Corporations in the Philippines do not just fire people instantaneously. It might be because of the business culture here that we look after people more than just partners in an organization. What corporations usually do is to conduct assessments and adjustments to give the person a chance to redeem himself. It's only in the outsourcing business where local organizations try to pattern their culture to the westerners wherein "sacking" actually becomes a hushed possibility.

But it's entirely different if the CEO or the head of the company suffers the boot. It seems amidst the glory, fame and glamor of their expensive and important lives, one shouldn't forget that the performance of the company is weighing on their shoulders. They have constant clocks ticking to produce results in a months time and if that does not happen, they would inevitably face a more public and painful termination. Who says sacking just occurs in mere employees? All is fair here, somehow.

According to AOL;s business buzz, here is the list of CEOs facing troubled waters:

1. Ron Snyder - Whenever you wear your specialty and overpriced sandal/shoes Crocs, remember him as the CEO. Buzz details he might be replaced by a Nike executive to release them from stagnation.

2. Jerry Yang - Remember his organization, Yahoo, and Microsoft's continuous courting stage that ended up with no offer at all? Some say he is responsible.

3. Johnathan Schwartz - Cute, Long-haired and capable CEO of Sun Microsystems needs to get his company diversified from its server business.

4. Mel Karmazin - CEO of Sirius Satellite needs to clean up debt of recently merged companies.

5. Les Moonves - CEO of CBS, who has done some prominent firing himself, needs to produce something better for the unsatisfied shareholders.

6. Philippe Dauman - CEO of Viacom needs to turn around the company's falling shares

7. Rick Wagoner - Ah, the CEO of the still-surviving General Motors, the last CEO of Detroit's Big Three. Let's see what GM will do next.

8. Richard Fuld - CEO Of Lehman Brothers, company's performance is top priority after all. They might need a change amidst the crisis.

9. Ed Mueller - CEO of Qwest, a big landline phone company, might be fairly taken over to pump up substantial broadband and cellular services.

Who says being CEO is all about fun, glaring prestige and money? These guys have the whole company's future on their shoulders and they are expected to perform or excel in it. A misstep or a slight malfunction might make the unfortunate and hushed professional possibility into a reality.
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