Diversified Career Paths: The Derivative of an Evolving BPO Industry

Being part of the demographic aged 18-25, I was once influenced by the change in direction when it came to choosing professions. While most of our parents were accountants and sea men (I was surprised to know that most of the kids my age had accountant mothers and sea-faring fathers—this was an effect of the ages, an economical phenomenon like that which Malcolm Gladwell explained in Outliers), our generation was offered two more globally relevant industries to thrive in—information technology and nursing.  Our parents enthusiastically urged us to take up nursing or IT in college—and in the blink of an eye, more and more colleges and educational institutions proliferated, boasting of top notch education that promised to bring their students to places, specifically, abroad. There were endless commercials about landing a good job abroad (yes, they had to emphasize overseas work) through taking up courses such as nursing and IT. It was very well established that these two courses were the key to a bright future.

Today, that future still stands bright despite the huge and still growing number of unemployed nurses in the Philippines. A colleague of mine graduated a year earlier than I did and it took her two years to land measly jobs as a nurse in second-rate hospitals. What broke my heart was that while there would be a great future waiting for her abroad, her profession required her to have two solid years of experience here—an obstacle that was hard to tackle because only a handful of hospitals in Manila are actually hiring. Let’s face it—the healthcare industry in the Philippines cannot support the aspirations of the growing number of nurses in the Philippines. There is a huge imbalance of sorts and we have yet to conquer this obstacle to tip the scale in the right direction.

When the BPO industry burgeoned in the Philippines, unemployed nurses did not waste time to take a piece of the pie while waiting for hospitals to accommodate them. While this might not be a career fit, they endured the challenge just to make ends meet. That might come to an end now, though, as the evolving BPO industry in the Philippines will now offer nurses a second chance at an amazing career—one that will fit with the profession they chose.

The BPO industry here is ripe. We’re moving to a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) age wherein more specialized professionals are needed to help propagate success in these financially trying times. In fact, Fly Free For Health founder De. Wei Siang Yu said in a press conference last week that the company will be investing $2 to $4 million for the two KPO centers opening in Pasay and Davao. Fly Free For Health will be providing a venue for nurses to act as medial butlers for their patients, who can acquire these services through the Internet. This good news is delivered with hope for Filipino nursing graduates who are finding it hard to break into the industry.

“These initiatives will kick-start the transformation process for the current system of exporting healthcare human resource. Filipino health professionals are well positioned to discover and tap into new opportunities like Medical Concierge Management, Borderless Multi-Disciplinary Management and Borderless Collaborative Care in the healthcare industry today,” Wei said during the press conference.

With the Philippines being one of the top BPO destinations in the world, it is only natural that these organizations come to us for yet another milestone in the progression of this industry. The fact that we have an abundant number of registered nurses is a good fit for the direction that BPO is taking in our shores. This industry has already proven that the Filipino workforce is a force to reckon with—a competitive element that’s ready to support the diversified global economy, be it in the customer service sector or otherwise. More importantly, we are now solving our own problems—we can now offer our people jobs within the country. No longer do we need to leave the country to seek greener pastures. We are a growing economy with a workforce so diligent that our clients no longer see us as mere employees. The modern Filipino worker is now looked up to as a global professional reaping the benefits of a diversified career path.