Monday, July 8, 2013

GLOBALIZATION AND THE RISE OF OUTSOURCING AND CONTRACTING: THE PHILIPPINE SCENARIO


Introduction

            The impact of globalization on work relationships have permanently altered how organizations function relative to delivery of services and the facilitation and function of work processes. The regular work arrangements have been replaced by the flexible outsourcing practices of large MNCs to reduce overhead costs and retain multiple operations across nations at a given point in time. Given this trend of employment, is the Philippine human resource landscape fertile enough to cope with the demands of the reevaluation of an employer-employee relationship?
            In Mafinco Trading vs. Ople, G.R. No. L-37790, March 25, 1976, through Justice Aquino (in Azucena, 2010a, 3):

The question of whether an employer-employee relationship exists in a certain situation has bedeviled the courts. Businessmen, with the aid of lawyers, have tried to avoid the bringing about of an employer-employee relationship in some of their enterprises because that juridical relation spawns obligations connected with Workmen’s Compensation, Social Security, Minimum Wage, Termination Pay and Unionism.

This concern has even brought about the determination of efficient labor legislation standards to safeguard people seeking gainful employment from exploitation. Perez (2011) decries the plight of the Filipino working class given our “unstable investment climate and great demand for cheap labor [that continually] nurture outsourcing and contractualization in the name of maximum gains, putting the Filipino worker at high risk and oftentimes dehumanizing situation as he clings for anything that could feed him.” Even Justice Quisumbing in Lim vs. NLRC, G.R. No. 124630, February 19, 1999 (in Azucena, Ibid.) this same threat and the role the government plays to curb the same:

The scourge of exploitation of labor, as shown by numerous petitions before us, remains pervasive. It is imperative for all government agencies concerned to exert all-out effort to prevent any further violation or circumvention of the provisions of the Labor Code through deceptive devices and malpractices.

The effect of business process outsourcing on the internal capabilities of organizations can be gleaned by the identification of core business practices from peripheries. Most of the latter are the functions outsourced to third party companies that provide such specialized services like couriers, coordination, sometimes even human resource activities like sourcing and recruitment. Large Filipino companies in the telecommunication industry, like Pangilinan’s Smart or the Ayala’s Globe, utilize telemarketing and call center assistance to function as marketing and upselling arms and quality assurance or troubleshooting counterparts to facilitate the concerns of subscribers wherein these service providers are outsourced to third party providers who may handle multiple accounts. Large MNCs, like consumer giant Unilever Philippines, Inc., utilizes BPO pioneer Accenture, formerly Arthur Andersen, or the relatively new Q2 HR Solutions, Inc., for their hiring coordination and interview set-up. These providers even are the interfaces of other service providers like executive search firms or headhunters. The end of HR, as we know it, may be running its steady but sure course.
            The increased mobility of work functions through the usage of technology has flattened the way work is done. According to Cecilia (2000, 63, 65) “[I]nformation technology is the single revolutionary structural material that [has] changed the landscape of work and work relations. It can be said with finality that technology has set information free from time and space […] work can even be done online.” It is not even uncommon to deal and have interface with expatriates. Gener (2000, 71) even says that this is the age of the elimination of the traditional command and control structures, rather it will be more autonomous and collaborative therefore implying: (1) collaborative cultures will be the workplace model; (2) creative employment contracts will support more time-off, flexibility in working hours and work locations; (3) the work week will be less structured but employees will still work forty plus hours but at varied times and places other than the offices; (4) employees will have more choices, allowing them to meet their individual personal needs; (5) working hours scheduling will become less important as organizations focus more on performance and results; (6) company internet will become a major tool for communication, specifically on training and benefits administration[1] where HR will play a major role; (7)  intelligence through knowledge transfer capability will separate the best employees from the rest, and; (8) freelance or independent teams of generic problem solvers will market themselves as alternatives to permanent workers or individual temporary help.
            We could see and nod in agreement that Gener’s evaluation of things to expect during the early part of the millennium have come true. And part of this is the maximization of technology to permanently change the way work is done and the impact of globalization to organizations to employ new work arrangements.
           
Outsourcing and contracting defined

            As a “management concept, outsourcing is the act of transferring some of a company’s recurring internal activities and decision rights to outside providers” (See: Greaver II in Azucena, 2010a, 7). On the other hand, as defined by the Department of Labor and Employment’s DO 18-A, contracting or subcontracting “refers to an arrangement whereby a principal agrees to put out or farm out with a contractor the performance or completion of a specific job, work or service within a definite or predetermined period, regardless of whether such a job, work or service is to be performed or completed within or outside the premises of the principal.”[2] However, as the case may be, according to Azucena (2011, 13-14), the terms “contracting” and “outsourcing” are used interchangeably in business practice and in some court decisions.
            For the purposes of this discussion, to justify slight differences on the subject matter, the differentiation will be determined by sample cases. For example, the provision of executive search services to a company, like the sourcing out and engaging of talents and not for recruitment or deployment, is different from the provision of agency personnel to perform work functions for the principal. The former is outsourcing while the latter is contracting based on the usage of the present writer.
           
Globalization, contracting, and outsourcing

            Macaraya (2000, 225) established the linkages and evolution of the employment relationship. Given that the purpose through which the Labor Code is penned is centered on the promotion of regular employment, he saw the shifts as an aftereffect of the dissolution of the regular work relations. The old employment relationship (Figure 1) is characterized by the four basic tests of the existence of an employer-employee relationship, namely: (a) the selection and engagement of the employee; (b) the payment of wages; (c) the power of dismissal, and; (d) the employer’s control on the means through which work is to be accomplished.[3] Of these, the control test is the most important.


However, due to the flexibilization of the employment framework (Figure 2), the control test is blurred if not entirely railroaded.  Because of globalization and the increased competition no longer just among domestic markets but also against international markets, the challenge of continued organizational operations has strained labor arrangements. Macaraya (2000, 229) states that “the trend today on one hand is the shrinking number of regular employment and the use of flexible labor arrangements is growing on the other hand.” He continues, saying that “traditionally, and under the Labor Code, only incidental tasks can be contracted out, however many corporations today contract out even those classified as ‘necessary and desirable for the business and operations of the employer’ all in the name of achieving flexibility, perceived to be needed in attaining competitiveness” (Ibid., 229-230). Even Cecilia (Op. cit., 65) adds the phenomenon of part-time workers, not just rank and file, but of managers and supervisors and technical people in many large and progressive companies that allow their valued employees to “juggle their work and personal lives through reduced work schedules.” From our class discussions, the present writer even remembers the case sample of Google, Inc. wherein they employ a “controlled chaos” environment so as not to box-up their employees and be able to pursue personal interests outside work. However, this may not be as applicable to us given the work ethic of most Filipinos. Chances are, most of them will choose not to work at all and do other purposeful but unnecessary activities.


The structure of the Philippine labor market is a compendium of the new employment relationship. In order to adjust to the demands of the global workplace, organizations within the country tweaked their processes to fit in the new demands of globalizing human capital.
            Apart from outsourcing and contracting, a recent development in labor flexibility is offshoring. This happens when foreign firms outsource their jobs to another country similar to “when a foreign company contracts with an organization in the Philippines to do ‘telemarketing’ or to handle customer relations in answering customer inquiries and complaints, or any other business process, the arrangement, - broadly called business process outsourcing – is likewise labor contracting” (in Azucena, 2010a, 15). This is a common practice of call center companies in the Philippines, of which a recent survey marks Convergys as the top player. This practice has likewise been recurrent in LDCs like India and of countries with a high working population like China. A common denominator among these three countries: cheap labor. In a 2011 survey conducted by consulting giant Towers Watson (2011) detailing total rewards components, including reasons behind self-initiated attrition (Table 4) and current hiring trends relative to salary brackets in the BPO and Call Center industries (Table 1), it can be deduced the reason behind the attraction to the initial want for employment of fresh graduates to jumpstart their professional careers. Table 4 details the common reasons behind the high attrition rate in the industry among the forty-eight (48) industry survey participants sampled, most of which are wholly-owned American enterprises with some European, Asian, and Filipino companies (Towers Watson, 2011).
Table 1. Monthly base salary – Fresh Graduates (Towers Watson, 2011)
            In a recent study done by Sourcingline[4], “[T]he Philippines is one of the most cost effective locations for IT (web design, software development, animation, etc.) and BPO (voice and non-voice) in the world. Employee compensation costs, the primary cost component of any outsourcing operation can be a tenth to a fifth of that for a domestic US operation. Furthermore, with recent wage inflation in India, these costs are below those of Indian based employees.” A 2010 pay scale used by this study pegged the following positions to show how minimal the pay is for these specific positions relative to the US pay scale:

Table 2. Comparative salary scale in the BPO industry (Ph vs. US)

Even the cost of occupancy here is a fractional amount according to the study quoting a CB Richard Ellis and Colliers International market survey.
            Eventhough the pay ranges per position are below what they offer in their respective home countries, compared with the pay range in the country, they still offer more. Current starting salaries offered, relative to this writer’s clients, in the BPO industries range between Php 15,000.00 – 18,000.00, even for inexperienced new hires. The premium is due to the perceived proficiency of Filipinos in English communication, which is true compared with other host countries. According to a 2003 NSO survey (in Magtibay-Ramos, Estrada, and Felipe, 2007, 9), the Philippines have a 97% literacy rate in the NCR and 89% in the country.[5] However, although this functional literacy affords a degree of employment to address the need for available jobs, this also promotes an “education-employment mismatch” (Ibid.)
            Because of the attraction of high premium and pay in call centers and BPOs compared with other available jobs, the immediacy of wanting to land a job and earn on the part of fresh graduates catapult them to these attractive careers which are, most of the time, a far-cry from what they took collegiate courses for. The nursing boom of the mid-2000s has resulted to an increased preference for healthcare-related courses in hopes of landing jobs abroad. However, when the demands for nurses abroad have dwindled at the early part of 2009, most of these graduates, board passers and all, have no available jobs to occupy. Some, if not many, took on open-ended jobs like human resources, office staff positions and call center work with a specialized focus on medical transcriptioning.
            The flattening world even integrates us in, what in our discussions was referred to as, a “simmering malaise” that things can be done better, faster, and even more cost-effective. In a way, we are given a broader, more dynamic perspective to explore and go beyond the boundaries of work. These outsourcing jobs have given us, another pillar of HR challenges, a more customer-based focus across seas and continents. We simulate being there through the service we render.  
            The recent stock estimates in 2009 posted an overall increase in the revenue generated by BPOs and call centers:

As in previous years, Contact Center remained the largest contributor in terms of revenues, contributing half (50.9 percent or US$4.2 billion) of the industry’s receipts in 2009. Other top IT-BPO sub-sectors included Other BPOs (27.5 percent share or US$2.3 billion) and Software Development (20.3 percent share or US$1.7 billion). Transcription and Animation sub-sectors contributed the least, with 0.7 percent (US$57 million) and 0.6 percent (US$52 million), respectively. These two categories, however, posted dynamic growth in 2009 compared to the previous year, which can be attributed to the expansion of transcription companies and the release of more local animation films in the country.[6]

The safety net of available employment for fresh graduates, even for retirees, bridges the gap of jobs and employment.    
           
The emergent threats of contracting and outsourcing

            In spite of the availability of employment brought about by the BPO and call center industries and job contractors, it also an avenue wherein it is also seen relative to the rate of attrition and job insecurity. Most, if not all aspects of this industry sector is dependent on the present demand of principals and clientele. The recent financial crisis of 2008 has contributed to a decrease in job orders from foreign clients leading to the redundation and downsizing activities of major contact centers, even until now.
            In Bool-Sale and Sale (2010), they posited the need for employment representation and participation in organizations to foster empowerment and involvement. However, given the data they made use of in the determination of the frequency of voluntary turnover or employee-initiated separation, in Philippine call centers and BPOs, exit is chosen over voice, having made use of Hirschman’s 1970 work on exit, voice, and loyalty. The tenuous base of the employment relationship in call centers and BPOs is founded on the job being a mere activity of processes and interface with an often unseen clientele. All the management does is the coordination and direction but no equal amount of shared responsibility is often present in the professional exchange. They suggest, in the light or RA 9481 that aims to strengthen employee organizations, that there is a step in the right direction when it has been suggested that organizing efforts should be industry-based rather than firm-based (Ibid., 14). But with the absence of government support and ample legislation, it will be for naught.
            Esmaquel (2012) describes the recent efforts of the Obama administration, through House Bill 3696 or the US Call Center and Consumer Protection Act, to excite the promotion of domestic jobs to cater to 13.1 million unemployed Americans[7] representing an unemployment rate of 8.5%. PNoy on the other hand, brushes this off as merely an “election-related” issue that won’t prosper in the near future. The current landscape of BPOs and call centers in the Philippines are based on mergers and acquisitions. Some call centers, like TeleTech Holdings, Inc. and Stream Global, formerly e-Telecare, have undergone right-sizing activities to close down provincial sites due to the absence of able locals to man their business given that most jobseekers crowd the national capital to land jobs.
            On the other hand, there is also the threat of contractors railroading employee engagements through “labor-only” contracting. The Labor Code[8] defines it

[W]here the person supplying workers to an employer does not have substantial capital or investment in the form of tools, equipment, machineries, work premises, among others, and the workers recruited and placed by such person are performing activities which are directly related to the principal business of such employer. In such cases, the person or intermediary shall be considered merely as an agent of the employer who shall be responsible to the workers in the same manner and extent as if the latter were directly employed by him.

Contractors engage in false contracting when they have no legitimate claim to purpose operations and engagement with clientele as they have none of the needed capabilities to ensue dealings with principals. They instead deploy people directly and under the command of the principals undertaking jobs that are core to the principal’s business practice. This is clear and present danger in the facilitation of contracting jobs out that must be avoided. At times, the contractors themselves are not aware of the breach in their activities and it is the government’s role to keep them abreast with existing legislation which shall be discussed below.
Also, some people expressed concerns on the adverse effects of call center jobs on health given the reverse work systems they operate in. In April of this year, Bayan Muna party list representative Teddy Casiño filed House Bill 6073, providing for the protection of workers’ health in the BPO sector due to the rigors and demands of shifting schedules.    
           
Government interventions

            A landmark legislation to accommodate the growing demands of the BPO sector and the feminization of the workplace is seen through RA 10151[9] which repealed Articles 130 and 131 of the Labor Code of the Philippines.
            Through this legislation, according to Section 4, a new chapter has been inserted after Book Three, Title III of the Labor Code to detail guidelines in the efficient conduct of employers for employees rendering night work. Article 155 states thus:
Art. 155. Health assessment. – At their request, workers shall have the right to undergo a health assessment without charge and to receive advice on how to reduce or avoid health problems associated with their work:
(a)     Before taking up an assignment as a night worker;
(b)     At regular intervals during such an assignment, and;
(c)    If they experience health problems during such an assignment which are not caused by factors other than the performance of night work.

On the other hand, it has also specified facilities to address the needs and necessities of employees rendering night work.
            Another important insert is Article 158 relative to women night workers. Previously Article 130 of the Labor Code prohibits nightwork for women.[10] Azucena (2010b, 120) mentions the passage of RA 7192 in February 12, 1992 which promotes the integration of women as “full and equal partners of men in development and nation-building and that the State shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.” To quote Article 158 in full, as a testament to the affordance of protection for women, especially those engaged in nightwork:
Art. 158. Women Night Workers. – Measures shall be taken to ensure that an alternative to night work is available to women workers who would otherwise be called upon to perform such work:

(a)     Before and after childbirth, for a period of at least sixteen (16) weeks, which shall be divided between the time before and after childbirth;
(b)     For additional periods, in respect of which a medical certificate is produced stating that said additional periods are necessary for the health of the mother or child;
(1)     During pregnancy;
(2)  During a specified time beyond the period after childbirth is fixed pursuant to sub paragraph (a) above, the length of which shall be determined by the DOLE after consulting the labor organizations and employers.

During the periods referred to in this article:

(i)                   A woman worker shall not be dismissed or given notice of dismissal, except for just or authorized causes provided for in this Code that are not connected with pregnancy, childbirth and childcare responsibilities.
(ii)                 A woman worker shall not lose the benefits regarding her status, seniority, and access to promotion which may attach to her regular night work position.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers may be allowed to work at night only if a competent physician, other than the company physician shall certify their fitness to render night work, and specify, in the case of pregnant employees, the period of the pregnancy that they can safely work.
The measures referred to in this article may include transfer to day work where this is possible, the provision of social security benefits or an extension of maternity leave.
The provision of this article shall not have the effect of reducing the protection and benefits connected with maternity leave under existing laws.[11]

Among the HR challenges in the future, based on our discussion in class, is the proliferation and open integration of women in the workplace. The stereotypes on women as domestic coordinators have been rattled. And, together with this specification enforced by RA 10151, even benefits for women workers need to be reevaluated and recalibrated.
Table 3. Health cost trends (Towers Watson, 2011)
                On the table plotted above (Table 3), we can see the rising trends in the BPO/ Call Center sector from 2008 to 2011, three fiscal years, in the allocation of healthcare related benefits afforded to employees. 
Two of the pillars of HR challenges that need to be addressed are the development of creative human resource management and the promotion of an egalitarian climate in the workplace. Some, albeit confidential, companies this writer currently handles favor flexibenefits over defined benefits plans to fit the needs of employee recipients. Most of the companies that employ this arrangement are from the BPO and call center industries according to the studies conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Inc. The flexibenefits package refers to a checklist of alternative mash-ups of providential benefits that an employee can choose from. This affords the employee a free choice to maximize arrangements that he will definitely benefit from. For example, single employees would choose a comprehensive housing plan over an educational plan for dependents. Those who have existing vehicle provisions may choose to have educational scholarships abroad over a new vehicle. This also, in a way, addresses employee attrition given that one among many reasons why employees leave is because of benefits, be it cash or non-cash.     
Table 4. Reasons behind high attrition (Towers Watson, 2011)
Conclusion

            According to Thomas Kochan (2011), in order to revive the ailing labor market, a renewed and more intense partnership among and within institutions should be forged to address the issues of unemployment and domestic sector underdevelopment. He made this suggestion at the onset of the continued decline of the industrial sector in the United States as a call-to-arms for job creation and that this can be achieved with the partnership of government, employers, employees, and the academe.
            This partnership should also be an important aspect in the facilitation of relative legislation to ensure and safeguard employment relations in these sectors.
            The government can do this through the Labor Standards Enforcement Framework (LSEF) to develop compliant and self-regulating companies. The government should exercise collaborative labor market governance with employment institutions so that a shared responsibility in the development of policies can be forged and discussed. These partnerships will bring forth a more comprehensive and long-lasting governance framework. Labor market governance (LMG) according to Bitonio (2008, 1) “refers to the totality of institutions—including policies, norms, laws, regulations, structures, mechanisms and processed—that influence the supply and demand for labor.” He identifies what may be considered as core LMG institutions: (i) labor policies and laws and how these are implemented; (ii) labor market players, their organizations, and their critical interactions, and; (iii) authorities charged with the administration and management of these laws and interactions (Ibid.) He cites The government’s effort to utilize the BPO industry, in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in its increased demand for jobs by conducting training that will cater to the competencies required for these jobs. This was done to address the skills shortage relative to available employment opportunities.
            From May 2006 to September 2007, TESDA graduated about 37,300 call center agents, 5,000 medical transcriptionists, and 230 software developers who were eventually absorbed by the industry (Ibid., 10). Then President Macapagal-Arroyo, in 2007, announced the allotment of Php 350 million in scholarships for the training of 70,000 call center agents (Ibid.)
            However, it shouldn’t just end here. The BPO sector is an industry we have not much control of as most are dependent on business abroad. We should likewise be mindful of redirecting our allotments to domestic industries we can revive and the pursuit of inclusive growth.[12]
            According to the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 (PDP), in Chapter 3, the government identified sunrise sectors, among which, the BPO sector.[13]     
Figure 3. BPO/IT Outsourcing 2004-2011 (PDP 3)

Of special mention is the government’s aim, included in PDP 3, to develop a Magna Carta for Call Center Workers in order to effectively place a social protective framework within the sector.
            On the other hand, through Department Order No. 18-A of the DOLE, the government has ensured the efficient monitoring and strengthening of laws governing contractors, from their registration and proof of capability to their efficient operations and dealings with principals.
            There are multiple means to continuously improve existing systems, one of yet another pillar of challenges to HR. There is a need to make the practice of human resources gain significance once more. As HR practitioners, we should be mindful of the forces of change. If I am not mistaken, it was O’Sullivan who identified these as: (1) innovation or creativity; (2) knowledge workers; (3) customers, and; (4) technology. A cliché though it is, but truly, necessity is still the mother of invention, and a creative mind is a fertile ground to develop new ways of doing work and facilitating better processes. Also, we should be engaging a human capital base that continually learns, what Senge refers to as a learning organization in his Fifth Discipline mandate. We should not be satisfied with just the value of present work, we should be as dynamic as the movement of work and see the bigger picture of how much work has evolved and how far we might have been left out. The outsourcing and contracting industry is not a new invention but legislation governing it are fairly recent. Why? It was merely perceived to be a stop gap measure to address manpower shortages before. No regulation was needed, maybe everything then were done in good faith. But given the changes in work relationships and employers and business owners saw this as a cheap detour, an operative framework should be established.
            If and when partnership among the key institutions in the governance framework has been concretized, the pursuit of social justice, despite variable economic circumstances, is closer than ever.  







References

Books

Azucena, Cesario A. Jr. (2010a) Employment and outsourcing under Philippine law. Quezon City: Rex Printing Company, Inc.
Azucena, Cesario A. Jr. (2010b) Everyone’s Labor Code. Quezon City: Rex Printing Company, Inc.
Binghay, Virgel C. (2009) Talent management, migration and globalization. Antipolo City: VCB Research, Publications, and Consultancy.
Bitonio, Benedicto Ernesto R. Jr. (2008) Labour market governance in the Philippines: Issues and institutions. Manila: Subregional Office for South-East Asia and the Pacific.
Bool-Sale, Arlene and Jonathan P. Sale. (2010) “Turnover and voice in Philippine call centers” in Ofreneo, Rene E. (Ed.) Philippine Journal of Labor and Industrial Relations, Vol. XXX, Nos. 1 and 2. Quezon City: UP SOLAIR.
Cecilia, Ernie O. (2000) “Changing patterns in work and work relations” in Gatchalian, Jose, et. al. (Eds.) Philippine industrial relations for the 21st century: Emerging issues, challenges and strategies. Quezon City: UP SOLAIR and PIRS.
Gener, Reynaldo M. (2000) “Adjustments in work process and organizations” in Gatchalian, Jose, et. al. (Eds.) Philippine industrial relations for the 21st century: Emerging issues, challenges and strategies. Quezon City: UP SOLAIR and PIRS.
Ghose, Ajit K. (2003) Jobs and incomes in a globalizing world. Geneva: ILO.
Kochan, Thomas A. (2011) “Resolving America’s human capital paradox: A proposal for a jobs compact” in The Harvard Business Review (February, 2012).
Macaraya, Bach M. (2000) “The labor code and the unprotected workers” in Gatchalian, Jose, et. al. (Eds.) Philippine industrial relations for the 21st century: Emerging issues, challenges and strategies. Quezon City: UP SOLAIR and PIRS.
Perez, Marie Cristine A. (2011) “Philippines in the ASEAN: Straddling the gap in development” (Unpublished paper, UP School of Labor and Industrial Relations.)
The Labor Code of the Philippines. (1974) PD No. 442, as amended. 
Towers Watson Data Services. (2011) “BPO/Call Center Industry: Total Reward Survey”.

Web

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (2009) “Results of the 2009 survey of Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) services” Retrieved from: http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Publications/2011/ICT_2009.pdf (October 14, 2012)
Esmaquel, Paterno II. (2012) “Should Filipinos worry about Obama’s anti-BPO bill” Retrieved from: http://www.rappler.com/business/818-should-filipinos-worry-about-obama-s-anti-bpo-bill (October 14, 2012).
Magtibay-Ramos, Nedelyn, et. al. (2007) “An input-output analysis of the Philippine BPO industry” Retrieved from: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/ncs/10thNCS/papers/invited%20papers/ips-02/ips02-03.pdf (October 14, 2012).
National Economic Development Authority. (2011) “The Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016” Retrieved from: http://www.neda.gov.ph (October 14, 2012)



[1] Since the mid 2000s, the integration of HR modules in SAP has been a major HRIS tool to facilitate the systematization of HR metrics.
[2] Department Order No. 18-A, Series of 2011, Section 3 (c).
[3] “Brotherhood” Labor Unity Movement of the Philippines, et. al. vs. Zamora, G.R. No. 48645, January 7, 1987 in Azucena, 2010, 28.
[4] See: http://www.sourcingline.com/outsourcing-location/philippines
[5] Based on functional literacy level 1 pertaining to population aged 10-64 who can read and write.
[6] See: http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Publications/2011/ICT_2009.pdf
[7] As of December, 2011.
[8] The Labor Code of the Philippines, Article 106.
[9] An Act Allowing the Employment of Night Workers, thereby Repealing Articles 130 and 131 of Presidential Decree Number Four Hundred Forty-Two, as amended, Otherwise Known as the Labor Code of the Philippines (July 26, 2010).
[10] Art. 130. NIGHTWORK PROHIBITION. – No woman, regardless of age, shall be employed or permitted or suffered to work , with or without compensation:
(a)     In any industrial undertaking or branch thereof between ten o’clock at night and six o’clock  in the morning of the following day; or
(b)     In any commercial or nonindustrial undertaking or branch thereof, other than agricultural, between midnight and six o’clock in the morning of the following day; or
(c)     In any agricultural undertaking at nighttime unless she is given a period of rest of not less than nine (9) consecutive hours.
[11] Republic Act No. 10151, Section 4.
[12] Inclusive growth means, first of all, growth that is rapid enough to matter, given the country’s large population, geographical differences, and social complexity. It is sustained growth that creates jobs, draws the majority into the economic and social mainstream, and continuously reduces mass poverty. This is an ideal which the country has perennially fallen short of, and this failure has had the most far-reaching consequences, from mass misery and marginalization, to an overseas exodus of skill and talent, to political disaffection and alienation, leading finally to threats to the constitution of the state itself (PDP 1).
[13] Also included were the industries of tourism, mining, agri-business and forest-based industries, logistics, ship-building, housing, electronics and infrastructure, among others. 

No comments: