SOME business-process outsource (BPO) companies are willing to forego their tax incentives rather than lose employees because of the return-to-office work requirement imposed by the government on locators, an industry group said.
This comes amid a trend of high attrition rates in the sector, as BPO workers are willing to sacrifice their current jobs for other work that allows a work-from-home (WFH) or work-from-anywhere (WFX) arrangement.
The Alliance of Call Center Workers (ACW), a newly formed group of over 1,500 BPO employees, disclosed that some workers are already planning to resign should they be mandated to return to office starting April 1.
Citing reports from their members, the group also revealed that about four to six BPO companies in the country have decided to forego their tax incentives just to prevent massive resignation from their employees. ACW did not name the BPO firms.
“Some of our members are planning to resign already if they will be asked to return to office by their employers. Some companies have actually deferred the return to office and allowed us to continue with the WFH arrangement,” ACW co-convenor Emman David said in a press briefing on Thursday.
“Some smaller BPO companies have decided to forego the tax incentives because their employees are not ready yet for the return-to-office mode. They weighed the impact of losing the tax incentives versus the amount of workers that they might lose,” ACW co-convenor Lara Melencio said.
Resignations
David said a “significant number” of their members are willing to resign as the government’s April 1 mandate for them to return to work looms. However, David pointed out that the resignation is not a “mass resignation” but a sign of “protest.”
The Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) has twice rejected a plea by the IT-BPO sector, backed by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) for them to be allowed to continue the WFH setup until end-2022, saying many firms have invested in such setup, and the workers have made arrangements for this.
“For our members the transition to work on site is not that easy. Most of the BPO workers went back home to their province during the pandemic and gave up their living arrangements in Metro Manila,” he said.
“Some of our members would rather take chances working elsewhere that allows work from home arrangement than return to physical offices,” he added.
An initial survey by ACW showed 157 of their members will resign if they are required to return to office, which is at least 10 percent of the group’s total membership. David added that 117 BPO employees remain undecided while 37 answered that they will not resign even if they work onsite.
Health, expenses
Melencio said they are concerned about their health and safety since the country is still under a pandemic. He also pointed out that working onsite is challenging to BPO employees amid high diesel prices, rising food costs and persisting traffic congestion in the metros.
“We urged the Department of Finance to reassess their goals and how it will affect the estimated 1.3 million BPO workers when it comes to this decision. Forcing us to rush back to the Metro will not lead to much economic activity,” she said.
“It is inhumane how we are being treated as mere numbers that provide results. We have worked day in and day out, paying our taxes non-stop. It is time that our welfare is looked after,” she added.
Melencio argued that much of their income would just be spent on transportation costs and housing arrangements instead of having extra savings from the WFH set-up—savings that they can spend on local businesses in their localities.
Higher attrition
Mitch Locsin, PLDT First Vice President and Enterprise Revenue Group Head, said the Philippines will not only see higher attrition rates in the BPO industry but it may also lose its competitiveness because of other countries that have adopted the WFH arrangement as part of the new normal for their BPO industries.
Citing the case of the United States, Locsin said employees now prefer WFH, especially if the nature of their work allows them to do so. Locsin added that employees in the US are now “demanding” that employers either allow them to continue working from home or they would find another job that allows this.
“We’re gonna see major attrition rates go fly high,” Locsin said in a webinar on Thursday.
“It’s gonna cause a lot of issues for our BPOs in the country. And it’s quite scary, really. So we’re hoping that the Request for Reconsideration gets approved and we come to an amicable agreement with the government,” Locsin added.
IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) President Jack Madrid said the government and the BPO industry must find the “optimal balance” on the number of workers that will work onsite or what the industry is proposing as a hybrid work arrangement.
“It is clear to me that we are not going back 100 percent on site. I think we have to find that balance and we need enlightened legislation from the government to help shape that future because the future work is already here. It’s happening,” Madrid said.
Madrid disclosed that IBPAP has an ongoing dialogue with the government to provide the industry with a “longer runway for a smooth transition” toward what they proposed as a hybrid work environment.
IBPAP earlier pitched three hybrid work arrangements for the BPO industry: 60 percent (onsite)-40 percent (WFH), 40 percent (onsite)-60 percent (WFH) or an equal 50-50 percent share for onsite and WFH arrangement. This was supported by Peza.
Last week Peza said it supports the adoption of a hybrid WFH arrangement for the IT and business-process outsourcing industries until the end of the year. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/03/14/peza-pushes-hybrid-wfh-for-i-t-bpo-until-year-end/)