Scattered Thoughts: Mixed Emotions on Labor Day.

As I’ve written in another post, I rarely talk about work because it’s hard to keep it professional once you need to talk about technical stuff. And I hate explaining too much about my work because 1)people assume a lot of things about it; or 2)people don’t get it at all.

Today is Labor Day in the Philippines and about 80 other countries who celebrate labor and workers. In the Philippines, it started in 1903 to demand workers’ economic rights. It’s an official public holiday, hence #laboracay is probably trending now. (Not that I have any objections to people spending their vacation in Boracay, but in reality, not everyone there is a common worker earning minimum wage or a few pesos above it and has a family to feed. – I wish we could send all employees, workers and laborers of the Philippines to Boracay to really feel that it is because of them why Labor Day is being celebrated.)

From last week up to yesterday, I have seen my coworkers plan and strategize how to go about the various Labor Day Job Fairs across the country. Spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment, I honestly think this is a good initiative for companies to give back to the society through the job opportunities they have to offer.

In my five years as an employee, I realized it is much more than earning. Being able to work is beyond being productive. To me it means you are a contributor, your skills are valuable to the company you work for and your pay helps sustain yourself or your family. It’s not really a monotonous (or robot-ish) way of life to be an employee. Stress, challenges and failures are just part of the ride. It makes it worthwhile.

Five years ago, I never thought I would be building a career in the call center industry. Brainwashed by people who know little about the industry, I, too, had my fair share of negative perceptions about it. In my job before joining the call center industry, I came to realize why call centers are the ones who take up majority of the job fair spaces. It dawned on me why call centers have bigger advertisements than those from the non-BPO industry. I learned more when I finally signed the contract and here I am, almost three years later, wondering what is so bad with working in this industry that even a prime time drama series would think so low of it.

I got over the fact that there will be people who think call center agents are just glorified telephone operators who get paid by sitting all day and well, talking on the phone. That’s an issue I gave up on and have learned to let go of. But yesterday, another form of insult to the industry was served to me. And I will reserve that for another day because it doesn’t deserve to be told today where employees, laborers and workers are being honored.

We all have our own set of dreams and goals in life. I personally still want to be a lawyer but I have other priorities now and that will have to wait until later. I know people who graduated from college and chose to work in a call center because they want a job or they’re probably itching to start a career and call centers happen to be everywhere. Right place, right time. I respect people who have not finished their education for reasons beyond their control and ended up in the call center industry or working entry level jobs. (Emphasize on beyond their control, because there are some who choose not to study because they don’t feel like it. These people should rot in hell. Or at least give their tuition fee money to someone else who’d be willing to graduate.)

Just like my respect for undergraduates, I have high respect for people who answer the phone, sweep the street, security guards, even those who collect the garbage and the OFWs we send off every year to provide a better future for our families. Being able to find a job and be of value to a business or a customer is something each person should take pride in.

To set the record, I do not work as a call center agent. I get to work at home because the nature of my job does not require me to be physically present in the office to perform my tasks. I have my own customers, which could be both internal and external. Contrary to what I had planned in the past, life’s irony brought me here, in a call center. It isn’t so bad and I am honestly happy with where I am today. I have a job and I love it. Would I choose a different job? Perhaps. But for now, I choose to be here. Along with the 800,000 other call center employees in the Philippines.

Mabuhay ang manggagagwang Pinoy!