Need a Telemarketer?

[VolAgent]

This very question/dilemma was the topic of an assigned paper in my Ethics class as part of my MSBA program.

The conclusion I reached was that it was indeed unethical to pay such low wages, knowing that you were supporting continuing poverty in a third-world country.

On the other side of the coin, if you don't do it, someone else will, which puts you at an economic disadvantage. Now we can discuss the ethics of letting your kids go hungry.

I would say you reached a very poor conclusion then.

The average household income in the Philippines in 2015 was 267,000 pesos. The current exchange rate is 50 to 1. So 3 USD an hour and a 40 hour workweek, working 50 hours a week is 300,000. Meaning this person is earning well above the household income, assuming they are getting enough work.

Cost of living is relative. What is needed in one location may be more or less than what is needed in another.

 

[Markthebroker]

I used to live in a third world country in the late 90's. We all worked for an American. My co workers made $4 a day which were considered high wages. I worked 6 days a week for food and a place to sleep, with the hopes of making my way up to $4/day. I can't speak for the island I was on, but I know the country as a whole had an unemployment rate of 50%. That's right, not 5%, but 50%.

Now explain to me why this American should have stopped feeding/paying me for your "ethical" reasons.

 

[Alicia Benton]

I am in need of a telemarketer to set for the appointments for people T65. I would be interested in learning how to employ someone from the phillipines.

 

[steph0216]

I’ve already reassigned her to another agent. Thanks for the responses!

 

[WinoBlues]

I can go liberal, pro-union, pro-whatever with the best of them. And I admit, when I first heard about what telemarketers are paid in the Philippines, I had the same reaction.

Reached out to a friend who immigrated from there and still has family there. He told me that $3 in the Philippines is the same as $25 here. That's a GREAT job for them and in high demand. We aren't treating them bad at $3/hour. We are getting them out of poverty.

And newsflash...Free Market Economics is a win for everyone.

I live in a very liberal pro union state. I also know a lot of union members that do not pay their gardeners or labors union wages.

 

[VolAgent]

I live in a very liberal pro union state. I also know a lot of union members that do not pay their gardeners or labors union wages.

Here is what is funny, I can turn that around into an argument for unions.

It just proves that management/capital will always take advantage of labor given the opportunity. All the more need for labor to band together as one.

 

[WinoBlues]

Here is what is funny, I can turn that around into an argument for unions.

It just proves that management/capital will always take advantage of labor given the opportunity. All the more need for labor to band together as one.

The California farm workers tried that.

I am not arguing for or against unions. Just pointing out some hypocrisy. People act like one way with their taking hand and differently with their giving hand.

 

[VolAgent]

The California farm workers tried that.

I am not arguing for or against unions. Just pointing out some hypocrisy. People act like one way with their taking hand and differently with their giving hand.

I completely agree with your observation.

I love the current fight for $15 for fast food workers. Sorry, it just isn't happening.

Just in wages, it will cost over $130,000 a year to staff a single register at a 24/7 place, such as McDonald's. That doesn't account for taxes, insurance or breaks. It isn't happening. That is why companies are pushing their mobile ordering apps and installing kiosks in the store to order. Huge savings, plus generally a better customer experience. Ignoring employee errors, I believe customers are more willing to customize their order on a kiosk or app versus with a person. I know I am. So between eliminating mistakes in ordering by employees and the ability to customize their order, customers are much happier. Plus they can be as fast or as slow with a kiosk or app as they want.

 

[WinoBlues]

That will lower FE cost. Since FE people do not have cell phones they won't be eating as much fast food.

 

[Glen Shelton]

This was an internal struggle for me for a long time ...

Everything changed when I actually went over there to visit!

I have hired more than 200+ people from the Philippines to work for me in the past few years. I have also experimented with varying compensation models.

Hourly pay in the Philippines can range from $1 to $10+ per hour depending on the task (I have found if you want quality employees, specifically for phone related tasks, you need to have a reasonable compensation structure that includes raises/bonuses/advancement/etc. in place or else you will likely lose them!).

Its not always a "one-size" fits all. I like to try to think if I would be excited about the opportunity if it was me before presenting the offer to a potential candidate.

Now the other side of this coin; just because you pay someone more, does not mean you are actually going to get better work from them - this is a logical fallacy.

I have a 40+ page employee manual I have crafted over the years that I am planning on publishing this year I will keep you guys posted!