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| Photo credit: Raymond Selda |
Despite
the robust growth of the Philippine economy in the past 3 years, many Filipinos
still perceive that “life is hard”, and that there’s a persisting shortage of
jobs and opportunities out there, especially in recent times when the country
was devastated by “Yolanda”. Despite that, there is an increasing number of “work
from home” jobs, yet many are skeptic whether such opportunities are a viable
solution for their livelihood.
Nevertheless,
there is an increasing supply of work from home, and unlike before, one can readily
google at least 3 pages of home-based job postings for each local-based job
site, and there are countless contractual jobs in crowdsourcing sites such as oDesk and Freelancer.
In fact, these two job sites are just a part of the existing 2,000
crowdsourcing sites that make up the industry. And because the Philippines is
seen as the “most attractive global provider of IT-BPO services in Asia” by
economists worldwide, Filipinos have a strong advantage of obtaining these
types of jobs. So strong is this industry that it contributes as much as OFW
remittances to our economy, and it is projected that there will be $20 billion
in revenues and 1.5 million jobs in 2016.
According
to the latest DOLE statistics, more than 50% and almost two-fifths of total job
vacancies in the country are categorized under administrative and support
services, and a huge chunk of which is contributed by the BPO industry. And
this figure only reflects the recorded job openings from office-based
companies, excluding home based jobs that are steadily and increasingly offered
on a daily basis.
However,
most Filipinos still see work from home jobs as only part-time, remedial and a
“not a real job”, and many still stick with old formulas of applying for
office-based jobs and going abroad. But if one tries to take a bird’s eye view
of it, it is indeed a viable solution for the jobless Filipino. The current
office-based job salary range is P15,000-25,000, and this amount can in fact be
also achieved with a home based job. Since most online jobs are freelance by
nature, one is not tied to a single company and can take on numerous
contractual jobs, as long as he/she is capable of doing it. While most online,
home based jobs may offer less compensation than this salary range, such amount
would actually produce an equal cash flow, considering the cost of
transportation, food and other expenditures of office-based workers.
Many
think that it’s not a “stable” job, but in this time, is there still a thing as
a stable job? Do most Filipino workers really have that security; that they
could always rely on their jobs as their primary source of income? Most
Filipinos should be aware that all employers are businesses, and if businesses
are not profitable, how can one expect them to pay employees, keep up with
operational costs and maintain positive cash flows? And with the current PDAF
issues that the government faces, how can one be assured that our tax and
insurance system is any way different in “taking care” of our contributions?
With
regard to opportunities abroad, it has always been an obvious avenue for
opportunity for Filipinos; but it definitely is not the only solution. If one
can be able to develop skills that are globally competitive, why go abroad when
one can readily get a work from home job? Going abroad likewise has many risks,
and many people have no financial capacity to apply simultaneously for numerous
countries. But with home based jobs, one has the freedom to search for
employers worldwide and choose work contracts and deals that suit them.
But
whether one thinks if a work from home job is a viable solution for a jobless
Filipino or not, what’s there to lose in exploring these opportunities? Regardless
of whether it makes ends meet or not for us, the bottom line is, you still get
to earn while at home.
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