INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—A group of employees in the business process outsourcing industry lamented that President Benigno Aquino had failed to bring up the issue of pay cuts in BPOs serving US clients when President Barack Obama visited the country.
“We expected that when President Obama visited the country, President Aquino could’ve hinted the situation of BPO employees where salaries have started to trim down and security of tenure is being compromised,” said Ian Porquia, spokesperson of BPO Industry Employees Network Philippines, in a statement released on Thursday, Labor Day.
“BPO clients from the US are forcing employers to trim down basic salary to as low as P10,000 – P12,000 on entry level. Back in the early 2000’s once you start in the BPO, you enjoy as much as P20,000 – P25,000 entry level basic pay,” Porquia said.
But as demand increased, the BPO firms in the country trimmed down basic pay to meet the requirements of foreign clients, he said.
The group is asking for a three-month tax holiday, saying that the 900,000-strong labor force in the BPO industry remains “insolvent to the many issues confronting them.”
Porquia said that on a monthly basis, a BPO worker’s tax can average from P3,000 to P7,000, excluding other government mandated deductions such as SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG.”
“Assuming that we get our three-month tax holiday, that is tantamount to around P12,000 – P21,000 in savings, which means a lot for every BPO worker,” he said.
“Despite the many promising benefits in the BPO industry, the growing financial crisis is in fact forcing companies to streamline and lessen these benefits,” Porquia said.
“The most obvious is the consistent merging of different major BPO players that eventually force lay-offs or putting workers in floating status until an account or business unit will be available for them,” he added.
The tax holidays they have long campaigned for will “highlight the opportunity to salvage whatever trifling amount is left on their pay.”
“The growth of the BPO industry is leaving workers behind. We don’t have job security, we are prohibited from forming workers’ union, we cannot petition for profit sharing and appraisal on our pay, we are simply left to take calls and eventually outgrow this norm inside the industry,” Porquia said.
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