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198 Panel 54. The nature of work and issues arisingThis section describes the general nature of worknature in call center industries. It includes adescription of work-hour systems, salary and allowanceschemes, performance demands, work controls andworkloads, and issues that occur while handlinginternational customers.Work-hour systems and effectsThe majority of the offshore call center industry catersto customers from different time zones, requiringworkers to work in the night shift or “graveyard shift”.To illustrate, a call center worker in Metro Manilareceives and places to and from the United States frombetween 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Philippines time. Mostworkers work nine hours per day. Working on thenight shift has implications for workers’ health, sociallife and safety (Hechanova-Alampay 2010; Nadeem2011).Working on long-term night shifts can make workersmore prone to illness. A 28-year-old female agentclaimed that she became sickly and gained weight afterbeginning the work. While we were on a holiday, shepulled out a pouch containing various medicines forflu, cough, constipation, peptic ulcer, and heart disease,some of which she then imbibed. Working on thenight shift limits workers’ sunshine exposure andability to do exercise. Strict break policies also add tohealth problems. Workers generally receive two 15-minute breaks and one 30-minute break on a shift.Agents usually use the shorter breaks to use thebathroom or to smoke a cigarette. The 30-minutesbreak is for “lunch” at around 2 a.m. Some workershave complained about urinary tract infections (UTI)because they cannot leave their post every time theyneed to go to the bathroom.Some agents also complained about the effects on theirsocial life of having irregular or random days off. Thispractice makes it difficult to make plans with family orfriends and can lead to relationship problems. Agents“Jordan” and “Robert” emphasized the importance ofhaving regular days off. They preferred to work for alower salary in order to receive days off at weekends.“Robert” said,“Although there are companies that have offeredme a higher salary, I prefer to stay here. At least Ican feel like a normal person. Now, I can makeplans with my girlfriend and friends. When I wasworking in the previous company, I used to fightwith my girlfriend because we rarely saw eachother and I also felt far from my friends. I couldnot go to gigs with them anymore”.“Jordan” said,“The reason why I have stayed in this companyfor years is because they have regular days off. Ionly stay in Manila for work. Every weekend I gohome to Pampanga to meet my family and bandmates. This makes me relieved and happy”.Another issue related to the graveyard shift is safety.Some workers, especially female workers, areconcerned for their safety when they go to the officelate at night or come home very early in the morning.A call center agent in Ortigas Center shared a rumorthat a female agent was held up and raped on her wayhome. To address the safety issues, some companieshave hired more security guards, installed more lightsand provided shuttle buses. Some workers prefer to usetaxis or come to the office earlier, especially those wholive far from the office (see Hechanova-Alampay2010).Salary and allowance schemesSalary levels are generally higher than other sectors inthe Philippines, including banking. However, salariesare very low compared to American counterparts.Some Filipino call center workers are critical of this.“Eric” said, “Outsourcing helps the economy in theU.S more. They pay workers there US$8 an hour. Oneagent in the US is equivalent to 10 agents here (thePhilippines)”.In large companies, the salary usually consists of a basicsalary plus allowances, such as food, transportation,attendance, and bonus allowances. Workers receiveadditional payments when they work above regularwork hours and during holidays. In small companies,there is often no allowance. “Robert” provided anexample of his income and benefits while working indifferent-sized companies.The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows