Over the past few years, numerous articles have stated how international companies can benefit from offshoring all kinds of business functions, roles, and projects to the Philippines. The country is now one of the best offshoring locations in the world, with several surveys declaring the Philippines as one of the major Asian hubs in the world for outsourcing and offshoring services.
The IT-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry in the Philippines has grown substantially and does not seem to be slowing down any time soon. Even with the ongoing pandemic, the business world remains highly competitive, and the country has maintained its strong reputation in the industry as demands continue to rise steadily.
However, this is not entirely new to the Philippines. The country has been working with international businesses for such a long time, tracing back to the 2008–2009 global recession that led companies to outsource and offshore their operations. The depth of experience and relationship between the Philippines and the global market is undeniable.
As a result, the more robust market for this service has created several new opportunities for local workers and businesses, plus foreign companies.
There are several reasons why offshoring in the Philippines is a popular option among international corporations. Business owners acknowledge that this may be due to the nature of the Filipino people, who are generally known to be hard-working, talented, and naturally passionate about getting the job done right.
1. Great communicators
The Philippines is considered one of the top English-speaking countries in the world. Many Filipinos have an innate ability to speak and master the English language while maintaining high proficiency levels and literacy rates.
As of 2020, the Philippines is ranked second in Asia, with an EF English Proficiency Index score of 562. Many IT-BPO services in the country require employees to have a strong command of the language and speak clearly. This makes Filipinos more than capable of developing good communication skills to cater to your customers’ needs and inquiries.
2. Lower costs for labor
Labor costs are one of the most significant expenses you incur for your company. By offshoring jobs to the Philippines, it allows you to take advantage of the country’s lower wages. Many international companies find that they save between 20% to over 50% on salary costs when employing Filipino staff, compared to comparable onshore staff. Naturally, it depends on the role you are offshoring, and the labor costs in your home country.
3. Good cultural fit
Since the early 1800s, the Philippines has been strongly influenced by American culture. As a result, many Filipinos today can easily adapt to western standards to fit in with your company’s culture.
Lawrence Barrett, Partner at Manila Recruitment, shares that “one of the potential disadvantages for some countries, which is probably more of a consideration than anything else, could be the time zone difference between the Philippines and certain countries. Having said that, there is a huge percentage of the workforce that are amenable to working on the night shift or mid-shift covering the US and European shifts”. Furthermore, even though it may appear that the time difference can be an early challenge when offshoring in the Philippines, the adjustments to be made on both ends are often easy to negotiate since the Philippines has a large depth of talent who are already used to working with foreign management in different timezones.
Moreover, Filipinos are also known for their strong adherence to their values and are willing to adjust themselves to be as accommodating and empathetic as they can be. As a result, an offshore Filipino software engineer, IT manager or accountant for example, can respectfully engage with his or her foreign counterparts to make them feel more comfortable navigating a working relationship with an offshore team member.
4. Talented and equipped with the right skills
The Philippines has become such a popular outsourcing and offshoring destination for companies from all over the globe. For well over a decade various companies such as the world’s largest multinationals through to nimble tech startups have employed and trained Filipino workers in an offshore capacity. Employing them and deploying them in highly technical global teams, where they are exposed to the best international practices.
Accordingly, if you partner with a capable headhunter, you can be connected with offshore employees who are experienced in the skills, technologies and multicultural working environments that make them high impact members of international teams. You will find job candidates who are highly capable and with deep knowledge of a large variety of industries and functions. Especially in digital, software and IT roles, where there are many global centres of excellence established in the Philippines by international companies. You can expect to be presented with a pool of potential offshore workers who are well educated, and equipped with years of relevant experience working for international companies in an offshore capacity.
Barrett has a few words to say about the IT labor force in the Philippines. “The country’s IT talent is diverse. You can find employees who are accustomed to working for both leaner startups as well as employees who have grown inside highly matrixed enterprise teams within multinational corporations. They are adaptable to many different cultures, different working environments and various team structures. Plus, with the latest developments since COVID-19, most of the country’s IT talent are able to work from home in case an overseas employer does not wish to establish an office facility in the Philippines”. This allows some companies to expand their business faster with offshore team members, whilst saving on the expense of an offshore office space.
5. Notable work ethics
Many business owners prefer to offshore their tasks to teams in the Philippines because of their excellent work ethic. Employees show higher levels of integrity and loyalty while adapting to your company’s work culture. With this common mindset, Filipino teams can stay professional and friendly while providing quality work on time.
Barrett further added, “Filipino’s are extremely compassionate, kind-hearted, sincere, and family-orientated, which makes them very warm and wonderful to work with. They’re also loyal and have a strong work ethic.”
Many Filipino teams work beyond the standard working hours in shifting schedules without compromising the quality of their service. This shows how dedicated and passionate the workers are with their tasks, and this can improve your long-term relationship with them over time.
Offshore in the Philippines Today
When running a business, you need to think carefully about how you allocate your budget. While hiring in-house employees seems like the typical choice to make, it can be pretty costly, depending on how many employees you take in.
Offshoring jobs to the Philippines grants you the opportunity to work with professional, well-equipped, and highly skilled teams. Apart from saving more valuable resources and time, offshoring jobs to the Philippines can also allow your business to scale faster on the ladder of success. For the best offshore staffing and recruitment, contact Manila Recruitment today.
