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194 Panel 5preference regarding the workforce, but we must admitthat it is easier to hire younger people because theyusually have a good knowledge of computers and easilyadjust to the night shift compared to the older ones”.From the perspective of young people, the call center isattractive due to easy access of work, and easy money.As explained by “Jessica”, a 23-year-old call centeragent, “I saw one of my brother’s friends. He wasbuying a lot. Dummy cash? So where is he working? Ina call center? Wow, high-end! Can I try? I tried andluckily I got the job”. “Josh”, a 25-year-old computerscience graduate, shared similar ideas, “I had to paysome student loans and debts that my mom had whenI was studying. It was not hard to get accepted into acall center”.These comments exemplify the motivations of manyother call center agents who participate in the industryfor financial purposes, usually to support personaland/or family expenses. Other agents place moreemphasis on personal experience and self-autonomy orindependence. “Jeni”, a new agent in an American callcenter explained, 5 “I was not really looking for money,more for experience and an allowance. But at least I amindependent. I don’t want to ask money from myparents”. Another agent said, “The first time I earned asalary, I felt I had lots of money. I started to have ego,pride. I argued a lot with my parents. I left the houseand lived on my own in Manila. My parents gotshocked, but I said to them that I just wanted tobecome independent. It took me three years to getback home”. This comment revealed that financialautonomy led to a feeling of independence and selfautonomyamong some young workers.However, there are some issues related to the entry ofyoung people into the call center industry. A surveyconducted by the University of the PhilippinesPopulation Institute (2010) showed that higherincomes among young call center workers translatesinto increased consumption of material goods. Theprevalence of risky sexual activity is significantly higheramong call center workers compared to theircounterparts from other industries. The PopulationInstitute study supports Frith’s (1984) argument,which says that increased affluence among workingclass youth creates new modes of consumption andleisure. White and Wyn (1997) also add that one ofthe characteristics of youth is their tendency to getinvolved in risky behaviors. The social life of young callcenter workers in the Philippines will be explored inthe latter part of this paper. In order to provide adeeper understanding of typical young workers, briefprofiles are provided below.Profile 1“Sophia” is a 26-year-old female agent from Manilaand a graduate of Far Eastern University (FEU)Manila. Soon after completing her studies in 2005,she entered the call center industry. Sophia’s parentshave lived apart since she was young. Sophia feltresponsible to support her sister and two brothers,who were still in school. She hoped that after hersiblings finished their schooling, she could use herincome to support her dream to be a theater actressand to follow her traveling hobby. She created a blogon traveling and took a theater class. She explainedthat she did not want to work in the call centerpermanently, especially given that she perceivedthere was no career progress. She wanted to pursueher career as a theater actress seriously. She livedwith her sister who was also working as a supervisorin a leading American call center.Profile 2“John” is the eldest of three children. His parentsown a small business. When the family businessencountered difficulties, John took a break fromstudying at Ateneo de Manila University, one of theleading universities in the Philippines, and found ajob in a call center. He was 22 years old at the time.At the time of this study, he had been working at amajor U.S.-owned call center company for one year.He then resigned due to illness and after his parentsbusiness started to operate normally again. Hemanaged to return to university and to pay his owntuition fees. He will be finishing his study soon. Headmitted that if he could not get a good job hemight go back to work in a call center until he savedenough money to set up his own business.The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows