Developed countries have higher standards of living. It follows also that the salary level of employees there should be high as well. This is a marked difference in developing countries, where the standards of living are lower. In addition to that, there are currency differences, which make it possible for people in the developing countries to earn more if they receive dollars. In the Philippines a large percentage of the population has decided to work abroad so that they can earn more and help their families deal with the increasing cost of living.



Several years ago, however, the call center industry in the Philippines was born and started growing. Because of this, most Filipinos, especially those who belong to the younger generation, now have a choice to stay in the Philippines and be employed as part of the call center industry.

The boom in the call center industry in the Philippines also benefits foreign companies and multinational corporations. Due to their large scale, large corporations face increasing costs in their labor, as well as in their business processes. By offshoring some of their business processes such as call center operations to the Philippines, they can generate savings and earnings too. Philippines is the destination for most call centers worldwide because of the lower labor costs as well as the quality level of ICT and English skills.

Offshore call centers in the Philippines stand a chance to become large companies in the Philippines. In fact, the larger call centers have grown exponentially since they were established in the Philippines. The rate of growth is estimated to be at 100 percent. This percentage of growth is phenomenal indeed. They could hire as many as 100 new employees in a week. In addition to this, the revenues generated have exceeded USD 1 billion in the early parts of 2006. The outsourcing industry in the Philippines is still young yet it has bested other industries in the Philippines.

A number of call centers in the Philippines are locally owned, usually by telecommunications companies. There are also call centers whose main headquarters are located in the United States or other developed countries. Most companies that secure the services of Philippine call centers are located in the United States. This is partly because Philippine culture and language have been greatly influenced by the United States. Several call centers are from Australia due to its proximity and the apparent benefits of outsourcing to the Philippines. The call centers in the Philippines employ around 500 to 5000 employees with office buildings spread out across the business districts in Metro Manila.

For companies that are looking for outsourcing bids and contracts, Philippine call centers provide almost all of the business process outsourcing services worldwide. Such services include customer service, financial services, travel reservation services for hotels and airline companies, as well as technical support for telecoms and computer companies.

As Philippine call centers continue to grow, foreign companies are expected to troop to the Philippines for business process outsourcing.