Views from a Strange Bubble: Experiences of Filipino Call Center Agents on the Global Payroll

• In Event: 579 - Regular Session. Citizenship and Identities in the Globalized World

Abstract

This paper argues that the Philippine call center boom over the last decade has resulted in the emergence of a new cultural subset of young urban middle class Filipinos whose lifestyles and identities are informed by the encounter between particularities of local culture and globalizing Western forces. This offshore workforce makes up a permanent night shift, attuned to distant time zones on local soil, raised in the customs and norms of Philippine society yet saturated in the consumerist and corporate values of the West. By presenting a glimpse into “call center culture” from the perspective of a handful of former and current industry workers, it describes how Filipino call center workers negotiate hybrid lifestyles and identities, delving into the relationship between labor and self-image and the consequences of entry into the global workforce. Primary sources include semistructured interviews with a corporate communications trainer, a selection of English language, Western culture, and customer service training materials used in Philippine call centers, and a series of email correspondence with five respondents following a 45-item questionnaire.

Author

• Marie La Vina, Fordham University