UPDATE: An interesting discussion on this topic ensued at MLQ3’s blog post Worse than Marcos?.
Yesterday, Janette Toral of DigitalFilipino.com twitted about “Experience of a first time OFW“, an article on the Kabayan Hotel OFW blog that discusses the thoughts and feelings of first-time OFW Gilbert Roque.
Gilbert’s plight is something that most of us have heard of already: not satisfied with meager wages and limited opportunities locally, he flew to Dubai earlier this year.
However, subtle revelations within the article raised my already-raised eyebrows. Do read the entire article, so that you can correct me if I took the quotes out of context.
First, the article talks about his education and job history:
Gilbert also took up computer programming in college. After he graduated, he worked as a sales executive in Makati for several months only. He quit the job after deciding to work in Dubai and also after much prodding from his mother. Thus, he became an OFW. [Kabayan OFW Blog]
Emphasis mine.
I work as a software developer in a foreign-owned IT company, and I participate in some local IT communities and organizations. The problem in the local IT industry lately has been the lack of skilled labor — too many highly skilled software developers have flown off to Singapore or elsewhere.
As a result, the salaries of developers with merely 3 years of experience and above have been skyrocketing, with local companies almost pleading for experienced developers to at least have an interview with them.
If Gilbert pursued the career path that he chose for college, there are quite a number of opportunities that he could have taken up so that he wouldn’t need to leave the country at all. Unfortunately, he took a job as a sales executive, a job that is certainly not as high-paying as one in the IT profession. Certainly, his job is not one that would easily present opportunities to earn a relatively high salary after only a few years, without leaving the country.
But what did Gilbert get in exchange of not pursuing a career in the degree he finished and dropping the sales executive job? A “robotic” job, apparently:
Q: So now, tell me about your experiences as a first-time OFW.
A: I left for Dubai in May 13, 2007, to work as a service crew at a fast-food restaurant. Upon arrival, we were picked up by a shuttle to bring us to our assigned flat. There were ten of us then. In the three days that we were in the flat, we were not allowed to go out. The only chance that we were allowed to go out is to have a medical check-up.We started on our job after three days. I thought that they would somehow give us a few days to get used to the job. I was wrong, on our first day, we were treated as seasoned workers and expected to act as such. [...] Eventually, after a month of fearing for the worst, I got used to the job and was doing it mechanically. [Kabayan OFW Blog]
That his mother — herself an OFW for 15 years as revealed in the article — prodded him to take the same path, it appears to me that Gilbert clearly had choices that he either overlooked or chose not to take, because there was a more “tried-and-tested” approach that he could take up.
A subsequent question reveals that he never even entertained the possibility of working locally:
Q: During your early years in school, did it ever cross your mind that you would become an OFW someday? Did your choice of course in college have something to do with it, and your desire to finish your schooling?
A: I may have thought about it then. Because when you are surrounded by people who work overseas you tend to walk that path also. If I remember correctly, there was a time that computer related courses will get you a job abroad fast. So, yes I did choose computer programming, because I had plans of working abroad also. [Kabayan OFW Blog]
It is ironic that Gilbert blindly walked down the same path his mother did, when earlier in the article he shared the pains of growing up seeing his mother only a month at a time every two years. Ironic too, that he said that he knows that his mother wouldn’t have left if she knew “another way” to support her family:
Q: Was it hard for you to have an OFW for a parent?
A: Yes, but not because I despise her for it – but simply because she was not there as much as I would have wanted too. I know she worked so hard to provide a better future for us. I know also that if there was another way, she would have never left.Q: For how long is your mother working as an OFW? How often does she go home here in the Philippines? How does that feel?
A: My mother has been an OFW for 15 years. She goes home to us every 2 years and stays for about a month or two. I feel that it is not enough, but what can I do. It is always so hard to say goodbye every 2 years, you never get used to that. [Kabayan OFW Blog]
Clearly Gilbert does not know that he is running in circles drawn on the ground by his mother and grandmother (whom he says was also an OFW), which is evident when he says that overseas work is a handed-down “legacy”:
Q: Do you think that OFW nowadays are getting younger and younger? What can you say about that? Do you think it’s a trend or a legacy passed on?
A: I know how it feels to be separated from a loved one. It is one of the reasons why I decided, now, to work abroad. It is better to be an OFW while you are still young, so that you will have ample time later to enjoy life. [Kabayan OFW Blog]
Which makes me wonder: how many OFWs told you that they were only going to work abroad for so and so number of years until they are able to save money? How many of them actually accomplished that feat so they don’t need to work abroad until they retire?
Reading the whole article, there are simply too many things that make me scratch my head: the lack of the ability to recognize opportunities presented, the lack of any real passion or concern for career other than a means to make ends meet, the treatment of overseas work per se as a career option, the acceptance of an abusive, menial, meaningless job just as long as it pays higher than — a job that could be matched financially and attained locally if only people try.
Gilbert is not alone however; how many people get jobs as call center agents, or take up nursing and caregiving, even if they are not genuinely interested in developing their careers in those fields? How many people work for the sake of working? How many people tolerate 8-5 drudgery, here or abroad, just to be able to pay the bills?
In the end, the OFW phenomenon might actually not be driven by simple poverty. Rather, it is being fed by a huge number of mismanaged careers, masquerading as a last resort to be able to feed and clothe one’s family when there are real alternatives that people simply fail to see. People always say that “beggars can’t be choosers”, but there’s a serious problem when a person begins to see themselves as beggars before they even pay attention to the choices they really do have.
There’s nothing wrong with Gilbert working abroad per se. It is the reasons why he is working that has to be questioned and — subsequently — people has to ask themselves about.
26 responses so far ↓
1 gg // Dec 12, 2007 at 12:10 am
you said it loud and clear. this isnt a generalization but your subject is only one of those perfect examples showing us that one of our problems aren’t actually the lack of opportunities here but some of us find it really hard to land a good job simply becuase he/she lacks the qualifications.
2 Jon Limjap // Dec 12, 2007 at 7:13 am
gg,
Perhaps, it is the lack of qualifications.
Unfortunately even if a person is qualified many of them simply refuse to lug it out here and just find the quickest way to a job abroad. Alam mo ba yung problema ni Rodel? That he’s worried that some of his employees merely see his company as a jump-off point to Singapore? Same banana with our company.
Ironically my company just scored a few points — bonskijr is a returning OFW, for instance. And we have another dev who came back from Barclays LLC after a year in SG.
3 cocoy // Dec 12, 2007 at 8:04 am
i’ve always had the notion that “talent goes where there money is.”
In my experience Employees tend to leave if 1) they’re not satisfied, money-wise; 2) not happy with the work they’re in (e.g. wants to expand career). 3) they’ve been fired.
i’ve never looked at it from the point of view that you’ve raised.
creativity they say is one’s ability to put various disciplines together to make something new/different/innovative. So i don’t know if a mismanaged career is a good or bad thing.
when asked at the age of 18, 19, 20, even 21 what they want to do with their life, i don’t think most people have an idea. so they go into college just walking along and grad school is where the action turns to. by the time they do figure things out— they’re old and wanting to get on with paying bills and buying stuff for themselves or starting families.
guess what i’m trying to say, maybe it’s time we as a nation get focused on getting the younger generation to find what they love, what they’re passionate about! encourage them to think beyond their horizons, to dream, to want, to strive, to achieve. ultimately, long term, i think that would change the Filipino. easier said than done.
4 Jon Limjap // Dec 12, 2007 at 10:23 am
@cocoy,
I’ve always had the impression that most Filipinos take up the OFW path simply because it’s the “prudent” and “normal” thing to do; they’ve never had a concrete game plan on how to make it if they stayed here, rather, they held the assumption that “I won’t make it big if I stay in the Philippines” because “the Philippines is hopeless”.
Quite unfortunate, really, when people give up before they try.
As for encouraging the youth to find their passion, I think the entrepreneurial evangelism does exactly that; unfortunately it caters to the upper and upper middle class kids and the lower / lower middle class kids feel left out.
Easier said than done, indeed. The real enemy is the educational system that tells everyone to look for a “secure job” (e.g., maintain consistent grades) and to be subservient to authority (always follow the teacher), rarely questioning or taking risks (the teacher is always right).
5 gg // Dec 12, 2007 at 10:57 am
cocoy,
i agree with your point that talent follows where the money is. It is also not to say that there is no money locally, thus, the exodus to Singapore is not in its peak. I also have the notion that there are opportunities locally that can be compared to what is available in places like Singapore. I know some guys making it like P1.5M per annum.
Though I would agree that receiving salaries of 1.5M pesos per annum isnt the norm here, I would tend to believe that local companies would also pay premium for exceptional individuals, especially in the field of IT and software development. It is just a matter of mathematics.
However, Jon’s subject is far from being labeled as a ‘talent’ or someone with exceptional capabilities that can qualify for any high ticket opportunities locally. Thus, there is a tendency to find a lighter job with more pay. There is nothing wrong with this on a personal perspective but given a larger picture, this can be questionable. I am sure we have heard people going to Singapore leaving projects unfinished or worst in shambles. If you are also in IT, these cases arent rare but fairly common.
Again though, I agree that we cannot generalize on this issue. But there is some truth to what Jon has written. Subscribing to it is another matter.
6 Jon Limjap // Dec 12, 2007 at 11:52 am
gg,
So it’s a mere matter of lack of talent?
Does that mean that we, as a people, are cheap, menial laborers by predisposition and genetics?
I somehow refuse to buy that — especially since this Gilbert guy was supposed to be educated.
7 dementia // Dec 12, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Being in the local service contracting industry, I know that there isn’t a lack of jobs available. Actually there is a lack of manpower because so many people are choosing to work abroad and a lot who are left behind are those who look skills which local companies are looking for. It’s sad that many Filipinos are choosing the OFW path, seeing it as a quick getaway and enduring inhumane treatment sometimes.
8 Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose » Blog Archive » Worse than Marcos? // Dec 12, 2007 at 3:15 pm
[...] is very interesting, too. Is there a “lechon manok” phenomenon, when it comes to OFWs? Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX tackles this, in response to the story of Gilbert Roque in Kabayan OFW: Reading the whole article, [...]
9 anthony scalia // Dec 12, 2007 at 7:08 pm
i think the only OFW work that is worth pursuing is if it pays an expat rate.
i agree with dementia that there are lots of jobs available here. whats ironic about us Pinoys is that we are choosy when we are here, but we will take any job abroad!
id like to know if prospective OFWs do a cost-benefit analysis of becoming an OFW - like salary vis-a-vis cost of living, how much is left for self and for ‘padala’ back home, etc. madali tayong masilaw sa times 40 (US dollar) without realizing na ang cost of living eh times 40 din!
10 Andrew // Dec 12, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I have a friend who graduated from ADM with a degree in Computer Science. For some odd reason, he took up Nursing three years ago and now he’s in the states working under the table. Why is it so odd? Well, he’s from a well-to-do family, as in crazy-sick-wealthy. He’s the only child and he stands to inherit all his parents’ successful businesses. But still he chose to become a nurse. Why? I think it’s the mindset that prevails in our society that in order to be successful, you have to work abroad. I don’t think my friend did it out of necessity, but more for the novelty of it. Whenever we chat he always brags about his new car and flat screen TV. And I’m like, dude, if you stayed here you can still have those. Doh.
11 Miguel // Dec 13, 2007 at 4:05 am
So Richard Sanz declined working with Google? Now we have different priorities!
I remember when it was new, in Alabang Town Center. I tried coconut tea… it was terrible! Good he dropped it.
12 Jon Limjap // Dec 13, 2007 at 8:02 am
Miguel,
Hah. Richard Sanz was my classmate in engineering in DLSU. Never thought he had the business thing in him.
He’s actually my inspiration in pursuing business (but alas it’s my wife who’s really doing it… hehehe).
13 gg // Dec 13, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Jon,
We definitely can’t deny that each of us is a resource, especially when we begin to put monetary value to everything that we do. The more exceptional we get, the more valuable we become. That is a fact of life. I dunno if your subject is well educated. The term “educated” is highly subjective and is very hard to quantify. One can be well educated through traditional means. One can be educated through sheer experience.
One thing is clear though, your subject failed to capitalize on his education. So there remains a question!
14 JunME // Dec 16, 2007 at 8:44 am
We all love to work on a work that WE LOVE, but we seldom do. Those who don’t have money work for money. Those who have money either don’t work or work for more money. There are a few of those who have money who work for the love of WORK because they can afford it. But no matter what our original reason is for working, we must learn to love our present work if want to be happy. We may be poor, but happy. “If you cannot love your work, quit, and beg alms from those who do.” I think that’s a paraphrse of K. Gibran or was it Blake- I’m not too sure.
15 DotNET @ Kape Ni LaTtEX » Blog Archive » The 2007 Philippine IT career situationer // Dec 18, 2007 at 5:10 pm
[...] A week ago, in Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX, I posted about the case of a newbie OFW (overseas Filipino worker) who was trained in IT but took up a menial job abroad instea…. [...]
16 reyna elena // Dec 24, 2007 at 9:07 am
OFF TOPIC: (hmmm OFWs?? that sounds familiar!!!)
WISH KO LANG HAPPY MERRY LOVELY MERRY PA ANG XMAS MO WID YORK JOWAWITZ!!!!
17 Bugsybee // Dec 28, 2007 at 12:54 am
Wala na akong masabi. Parang lahat sinabi na dito.
Well, perhaps just this one thing that I have always said about OFWs etc.: some of us have good reasons to go abroad; others just go because “everybody’s going anyway”; some of us have chosen to stay because, well, we just want to stay. To each his own.
“Merry Christmas” is too late so Happy, Peaceful new year to you and your loved ones, Jon.
18 Jen // Jan 1, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Sapul! hehe
I agree that there isn’t a lack of opportunities here, but of skilled people. If you know what I’m going through, I’m one of those poeple taking up odd jobs out of neccessity and practical reasons. Kung nakikita nyo ko sa mga gatherings natin, madalas tahimik ako kasi ayoko magsalita sa pag-aalala na makuwestiyon ang career ko.
It is my big DREAM to work as a Software Developer and here I am pag off-work hours nag-aaral ng .NET para pag fully developed na skills ko eh babay na sa mga trabaho kong wala talaga akong puso at hayaan na ako’y ligawan ng mga ISVs dito sa Pinas. Pero jojoin na lang ako sa company ni Rodel hehehe.
At buti na lang wala talaga ako hilig magwork abroad. Sige magsilayas papuntang abroad ang mga skilled Developers habang ako dito masaya sa nakikitang opportunities dito. mag aabroad lang ako pag gusto ko magbakasyon mwahaha
19 Jon Limjap // Jan 2, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Bugsybee,
I just hope most people will have a really good reason to go abroad, and if they do, I hope that it’s not for a job they wouldn’t even entertain if they were here.
Happy New Year!
Jen,
That’s the spirit!
Have you tried applying at ggsubscribe’s company? Nangangailangan ata siya ng devs
20 Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX » Blog Archive » 2007 to 2008 are our “Going ’round the Philippines” years // Jan 7, 2008 at 12:23 pm
[...] do promise that whatever comes out of this blog will continue to be worth your while — if not worth fighting over at Manolo’s [...]
21 Claire // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Honestly,I initially find your observations unrealistically optimistic, that people who has pursued the career path related to their college course, would eventually have no reason to leave the country.Most people leave the country (whether they followed their college paths or like Gilbert, underemployed) for mostly the following reasons: there are no jobs for them, or their salaries are not enough to feed their families.But then of course, there are those who are just too lazy to COMPETE that they will accept non college degree jobs abroad even if they are college grads in Phils.
people who has the means to stick to their college courses and look for jobs related to their degrees are not starving, not afraid of being kicked out of the house, and are quite lucky that they dont need to support their parents or siblings.and most probably, still living with their earning parents, so they can keep their own wages, till they move up the salary levels.
I myself gave up my career path for broadcasting/media to be in technology sales in Manila for 6 years.It was not easy to turn your back away from your youthful ambitions of being so and so, but when you are part of the poverty stricken Pinoy majority who rents, or squats, slugging out the PHP 6000, or PHP 8,000, no SSS, no insurance salary package of media companies is just suicide.(that was going rate in 2000/2001) Compared to an offer of PHP 12-15 thou if you were fresh grad in 2001 for technology sales.
I would have easily dismissed your entry as very partial to the middle class, who dont need to battle abroad to make ends meet, until I realized Gilbert was merely 22 years old, he seemed to have not even tried to at least be in call center, if a sales job is too demeaning for him, two years working in the country and then giving up to be a food crew member??
But I cannot blame Gilbert as well.Aside from the fact that only the rich/middle class/lower middle class being able to slug out the first few years working in their chosen paths despite low starting salries in manila, there still exisits university snobbishness in the better companies.
if the person happened to have been a product of an unknown school, forget his chances of employment in foreign owned companies, he or she, unless exceptionally talented or lucky, or perseveing will not even get to step even on accenture’s lobby.
so for somebody who graduated an IT course in the province, the choice will be left to : working for less than PHP 15-18,000 as an IT administrator in a small local company, get PHP 16-20 thou as a call center agent–all rates untaxed; or go to middle earth and serve pizza for approx equivalent of PHP 28000; untaxed, with housing, and insurance
22 Jon Limjap // Jan 10, 2008 at 5:13 am
Claire,
You know what, I actually agree with you. It’s going to be the topic of my next post even.
And I think it’s a lot of factors combined. In my experience, there are a LOT of great developers in my field earning in the 30K - 60K range who come from unknown and/or looked down upon schools. Perhaps they were talented, but they also just had the perseverance to slug it out.
And my main beef is that this guy *is* already middle class, having a mother who provides OFW income and who is able to have him finish college. He could’ve slugged it out here, but he chose not to, and to add insult to injury, he took up a menial job.
Wala sanang issue kung nag-IT work siya abroad eh. So do we deduce everything to lack of talent?
23 Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX » Blog Archive » Can everyone rise up to the challenge of poverty? // Jan 10, 2008 at 9:33 am
[...] finally, I read about Gilbert, and posted my rather controversial take on his story. Education has been the traditional answer to the scourge of poverty. It is the silver bullet that [...]
24 jerbersoft // Jan 10, 2008 at 4:22 pm
if i was gilbert, i would have been insulted. insulted in the sense that i have taken up the course during college is my dream course, and in the end, i didn’t have the guts to follow it. sir jon is right about mismanaged career. and i know some of the guys out there would scream at me saying “are you nuts?! you say that even he took up CS during college ,it means he can’t go abroad and become a fast-food service crew?!”. wow! very nice. of course he can! everyone has the rights! this is even a DEMOCRATIC country.
ok…my point here is, he should have been looking for any opportunities in the country. there are many i think especially in the Libis area. he should have been determined to harness the career he chose by applying to some software development firm even a junior programmer. ok…you might say that he is not qualified because he does not have the skills. then what? is it the end for the career you loved? heck no! why not apply in call centers while trying to learn the skills needed. right?
Jen is right, if so many people go outside or abroad to work, those who loved to saty will have a bigger opportunity in our motherland! an advantage? we wont miss our families the way OFWs do! hahaha!
25 mela // Jan 18, 2008 at 11:21 am
well gilbert is relatively young… so okay na din at least habang maaga na-try na nya magwork overseas…para nman kasing lahat ngayon nasa isipan ang pag-aabroad..sana lang mkaipon sya enough money fast para by the time na magaasawa na sya stable na sya.
anyway in-demand kaya ang pagtatrabaho abroad ngayon sa europe
26 Jon Limjap // Jan 19, 2008 at 7:03 am
mela,
Ang sa akin, walang kaso na mag-abroad siya. Ang pinanghihinayangan ko eh yung hindi niya ginamit yung tinapos niya, considering na napakataas ng sweldo sa industry na yun kung ipupursue mo talaga, whether sa Pinas or abroad.
Siguro magconcede na lang ako na he wasn’t “software developer material” in the first place — he’s “fast-food service crew material”, period. Not to offend fast-food service crew — many of my friends in the software development industry has once part-timed as fast food service crew to augment their tuition while studying IT — but you get my point.
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