<h1 class='title'>10 THINGS EVERY FILIPINO CALL CENTER REP SHOULD BE THANKFUL FOR</h1>

As Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, half a world away in the Philippines, over a million workers in the outsourcing industry have a lot to be thankful for, as well. Here are 10 things every Filipino call center rep should be thankful for:

• As of 2017, the Philippine outsourcing industry (contact centers, transcription, IT, animation, accounting) directly employs around 1.4 Million employees- from college dropouts to university graduates, from millennials to retirees, from newbies to tenured rockstars, men and women from all walks of life- who found a steady source of income working to make customers' lives a little bit easier;
• Indirectly, several thousands more are employed with allied industries (construction, catering, engineering, security, housekeeping, etc) to service the various needs of a rapidly growing outsourcing industry;
• The outsourcing industry has pumped US$25.5 Billion into the Philippine economy this 2017, the second biggest provider of much needed revenue after remittances from overseas Filipinos;
• In the Philippine real estate market, outsourcing companies are currently leasing as much as 7 Million square feet (650 Thousand square meters) of prime office space and had spawned a construction boom to accommodate an increasing demand for more office space;
• The outsourcing industry has enabled average Filipinos with the right set of skills to earn well above minimum wage plus comprehensive health care and other benefits to boot;
• The outsourcing industry has pretty much transformed major metropolitan cities from sleepy communities into 24/7 commercial hubs with coffee shops, convenience stores, fast food restaurants and service stations open all night to service the thousands who work graveyard shifts;
• Thanks in part to outsourcing, Starbucks, Seattle's Best, J.Co and other specialty "hangouts" are everywhere to cater to the Filipino rep's acquired lifestyle of good coffee, good company and free WiFi;
• With the success of U.S. companies that outsourced to the Philippines, Canada, the UK, Australia, and other countries have hopped on the outsourcing bandwagon as well;
• As a testament to the Filipino's English skill and professional work attitude in handling customer care issues, income opportunities have opened up online for highly-skilled Filipinos to work from home as English tutors, writers, or even as virtual assistants;
• More than the money, practically every worker in the Philippine outsourcing industry has a compelling purpose to persevere inspite so many challenges and continue serving the customer- a younger sister who needs to finish college, a sick parent who needs continuous medication, a single mom who needs to ensure her child's future, a working student saving up to enroll next semester, a father paying the mortgage for a new house, a millennial looking to buy his first car. As long as the calls keep coming, every worker is assured he has the means to fulfill his purpose. So whenever a customer service rep says "Thank you for calling...", he means it.

Although we don't have Thanksgiving in the Philippines, we wish to say "Thank you!" to all our customers for allowing us the opportunity to assist you and the bounty y'all have given us in return.

Maraming salamat po.