5 Reasons Why Australian Companies Love the Philippines
Outsourcing as a concept is nothing new. What is new, however, is the ability for small and medium sized businesses to start and grow offshore teams instantly. What used to be reserved for only the big end of town is now available to everyone due to technology and a better educated global workforce. With workers from all over the world accessible, why are so many companies choosing to set up shop in the Philippines?
Below are the top 5 reasons companies are outsourcing THERE.
Time zone: Being in the same time-zone as Perth, which is currently two hours behind, is hugely advantageous to APAC companies. This allows companies to hire staff able and willing to work the local hours of the business. If the goal is to hire someone long-term, and make them a valued team member, this is absolutely crucial! Having your offshore team work the same schedule as the local team will make continual training and management easier, improve communication, enhance internal relationships, and ultimately get you better ROI. This isn’t as critical for freelance projects and short-term work, but still makes those easier as well.
Hard Working: For many in the Philippines, having a stable job is not guaranteed, so when they find a suitable long-term opportunity with a good company, they feel a sense of loyalty and prove themselves with great work ethic. This is especially true with home-based staff as they take advantage of the opportunity to work from home AND not having to travel 3 hours through traffic to every day.
Educated: The Philippines is developing at a rapid rate. The population is about 4x Australia and there are around 500,000 new university graduates per year. The majority of large companies who offshore are hiring white collar jobs in the Philippines. In addition to corporate training, the ease of which working online has become the past five or so years has given a lot of these workers a uniquely broad skill-set.
Rates: There’s no denying most people’s number one reason for looking offshore is the hourly rate discrepancy between places like Australia and the Philippines. You can find highly skilled people for a fraction of what you would pay locally. The great thing is that the rates are cheap to us, but good for the staff working in the Philippines. Minimum wages is around AUD$ 1.50 per hour depending on the region, so virtual assistants making 4x or 5x more than their minimum wage would be like someone in Australia earning 70-80 dollars per hour.
English: The English level of workers is one of the more attractive reasons companies build their teams in the Philippines. Due to the American cultural impact, English is a prominent language spoken throughout Filipino households and primary schooling. In addition to written and spoken English, most Filipinos are comfortable conversing with international clients where English is their first language.