By guest author Joanne Reyes, a worker on EasyOutsource. She worked as a writer and editor for a magazine, published in three languages (English, Filipino and Chinese), for 12 years. She also taught English and Journalism. She is currently an English online teacher and freelance writer.

Technology has made it possible for the East and West to work together even without leaving their own time zone. More and more foreigners are reaching quality Filipino workers to work for them at reasonable prices. So better opportunities are opening each day for Filipinos giving them the chance to work for foreign employers without having to leave their loved ones (like many overseas Filipino Workers or OFW’s).

But recently, I see many ads looking for Filipino workers who are efficient, reliable, and who will remain loyal to their employers. It made me realized that some workers do accept a job only to quit later on. What could be some of the possible reasons behind this? As a freelance writer, I’ve dealt with many different clients and writers already, and here are some of the things I learned that hopefully would help foreign clients when they work with Filipinos.

Make sure you hire the right one for the job. If you hire someone who is not fit for the job, he’ll most likely leave you as soon as he realizes that he cannot meet your requirements. Some people tend to make their profile look as if they know everything from web design to keyword research to article writing. But you have to understand how much they really know of these particular skills. Don’t be tempted into hiring someone who has all those skills as your virtual assistant unless you truly believe that he meets your requirements. I’ll give you an illustration.

I’ve met a certain “writer” online because she was advertising for a certain writing project for her “boss.” The ad caught my interest so I contacted her. When I asked her about the job specifications, she confessed to me that she actually applied for the job lying about her true writing skills. Her “boss” contacted her for the job and it was too late when she realized that she hated writing. So she advertised for someone to take on the job on her behalf because she couldn’t bear disappointing her very “kind” boss.

Be specific with your requirements. Some can read between the lines. Some cannot. So the more specific you are with your job requirements the more likely that you’ll be satisfied with your worker’s output.

It is through a lot of experiences dealing with different clients that I’ve learned that not all clients use the same “vocabulary.” SEO articles to one client may mean, using the keyword only in the title and in the first and last paragraph. To another client, it may mean using the keyword in every 100 words. Because there are no set rules in the internet, only guiding principles, some clients can choose which one to follow. So when you contact someone to do the job for you, be as specific as possible. Don’t just give him the keyword and then ask him to write a 500 word article with that keyword. Most likely, he’ll follow such a general instruction in a general way. So you end up writing an email giving him a more specific instruction. Why not write this kind of email to him on his first day of work to save both of you a lot of trouble?

Understand the Filipino culture. Most Filipinos highly regard their employers. They always want to give them good impressions by working really hard. And when asked to do something which they cannot do or something they cannot understand, they’re too ashamed to ask. Why? Because they don’t want to give you an impression that they’re not that witty. Asking questions (even if they’re just for clarification) might mean they’re not fit for the job. So the next time you ask your worker to do something for you, end your email with something like, “if you have any question concerning this task, please feel free to ask.”

Respond to their emails as promptly as possible. Most employers demand their workers to be always available for communication. It’s their right, no doubt about this. Working at home doesn’t give anyone the liberty to be away from his job the whole day and report to duty whenever he feels like it. Home based jobs should be treated in much the same way as traditional jobs—with a great sense of responsibility. Now on the side of the worker (although he might not tell you about this), he also wishes his employer to be always available whenever he needs him. If he sends you his finished job, for instance, he certainly hopes to receive your feedback at least within the day. Failing to do so might cause your worker to worry that you don’t like his job, or worse that you’re a scam. So on the onset of your work relationship, you have to make clear to him how often you can communicate with him. It would be great if you can set a time in a day or in a week to communicate with him or evaluate his job. Doing so can also strengthen your partnership, especially if you wish to keep him for good.

Pay them well. If you think you’ve got one of the best workers in town and you want to keep them, pay them their worth. Otherwise, these people might continually search for a more high-paying job and once they find it, they’ll leave without even saying goodbye to you.

Be kind to them. Some people (like the “writer” I mentioned earlier couldn’t leave their boss because he was too kind to her) hold on to the job because they’re fairly treated by their boss. Perhaps this is the most important rule to remember. Filipinos are very sensitive. Sometimes even a slight hint of impoliteness might scare them away. So please be kind to them. Even if you’re just communicating through emails, mind the tone of your writing to make sure that it would not gie your worker the impression that you’re being too “bossy.”

Working for employers from other countries doesn’t only give Filipinos the opportunity to enhance their skills and reach their maximum potential, it’s also a great way to learn many things about other cultures. Hopefully this kind of work relationship will benefit both the employers and the workers.

A lot of these advocates have online courses that they sell subscriptions for.  These people are considered a success in online marketing and already have a solid following, so selling their outsourcing courses wouldn’t be a problem.  But, truth be told, there are some people who are just plainly enthusiastic about outsourcing to the Philippines.  They are not selling any courses or earning a lot from the niche, save maybe for affiliate links to the above-mentioned courses.  They simply believe that the Philippines has a lot of outsourcing potential.

One such person I came across is blogger Kathy Dobson.  I came across her blog while reading about the topic “outsourcing to the Philippines”.  The first post that I read was her promoting John Reese’s course on outsourcing.  Although she was promoting a course, I can feel her sincerity and her conviction in outsourcing to our country.  She doesn’t just promote courses, she subscribes to many of them, too.  And no, her blog is not just about promotion, she also has a lot of tips about outsourcing that followers of her blog find invaluable.  She even shares her own experiences in outsourcing (yes, she does outsource work, too.).  Her blog is a great resource for stuff related to outsourcing.

Another blog I find fascinating to read about outsourcing is Yaro Starak’s Entrepreneurs Journey.  What caught my attention was his post about outsourcing and exploitation.  His approach to the topic is very fair and he didn’t take sides at all.  What impressed me is that he was brave enough to tackle such a taboo issue on the topic of outsourcing.

There are a lot of people and a lot of blogs that have mentioned outsourcing to the Philippines at one time or another.  It just goes to show that the the industry of outsourcing is growing at a rapid pace and that the Philippines is on the top of the list of countries where quality online workers can be found.  It brings me such joy in thinking that this will mean that more jobs will be created for my countrymen and the praise for the quality of our output makes me proud to be Filipino.

Here is a list of sites where you can hire Filipino contractors:

1. EasyOutsource.com – EasyOutsource is one of the best place to hire Filipino online freelancers.  Our site has an all-Filipino worker line up.  The site is growing rapidly.  The site is very easy to use and have a lot of features that are useful to a job site.  One of these features is an internal messaging system that employers and workers can use to communicate with each other.  We are constantly adding new features and improvements to the site to make it even better and easier to use.  The best part is, using the site is free for both employers and workers!  There are no registration fees involved.  You don’t have to pay anything to post jobs, browse profiles, browse job posts, and apply for jobs.  Isn’t that great?
2. Onlinejobs.ph – OnlineJobs.ph is one of few international job sites that focuses exclusively on outsourcing to the Philippines. They have a wide pool of workers and you have a good chance of finding a qualified one here. OnlineJobs has a unique method of displaying worker profiles. Workers select their own skill levels from 1-5 on a wide variety of common outsourcing tasks. Employers may find this method useful for quickly evaluating the qualifications of candidates, but we also find that it’s easier to evaluate a candidate based on his or her written response to a prompt than a selection from a drop-down menu. The primary downside to OnlineJobs.ph is that the site charges employers $49.00/month to post jobs and use the site. The site is owned by John Jonas, who gives a lot of great tips for outsourcing to the Philippines at his blog.
3. Odesk.com – Odesk is one of the more popular sites to hire online freelancers.  They offer a downloadable time tracker that employers can use to track the actual time a contractor spends working for him.  Employers can see what their contractors are doing and freelancers get the assurance of guaranteed payment.  The site is not just for Filipino freelancers, though.  There are a whole lot of freelancers from the rest of the world, as well.  So when you post a job, you’d have to weed out applicants from other countries if you have your mind set at hiring a Filipino.  Odesk charges 10% of the total amount due to a provider and bills that, on top of the provider rates, to employers.  If you hire someone on an hourly basis, the amount due is automatically debited by odesk from the credit or debit card you used to register on the site.
4. Freelancer.com – Like odesk, freelancer.com has freelancers from all over the world, but it also has great number of Filipinos registered on the site.  Posting your first job there is free but posting subsequent ones will involve a fee depending on how you wish your job post to be featured.  Here is a table of the rates and fees for freelancer.com:
   

   Employer Fees

   

   Worker Fees

5. Elance.com – To date, Elance has 1,554 registered online Filipino professionals.  That is already a good number, considering the fact that online freelancing in the Philippines is a fairly new trade.  Elance is unique in that they guarantee output and payment for both employer and provider.  They hold the fees in escrow and only release it to the provider once the work, or they call it milestone, is completed and is approved by the employer.  This way, both the interests of the employer and provider are protected.  Elance also charges fees for their services. Below is a table of their rates for employers and  membership plans for their providers:
   

   Employer Rates

   

   Provider Membership Plans

6. Craigslist Philippines – Craigslist is a classified ads site that is community-based.  There is a craigslist site for almost every country in the world, and a section for every major city in a country.  There are sections for discussions, personal ads, rentals, for sale items, services, and jobs.  Though it is an unusual place to find someone to hire, there are a lot of great online freelancers advertising their services on this site.  If you hire someone from Craigslist, you don’t have to deal with fees and you will be hiring directly.  But since Craigslist is not really a job or an outsourcing site, your choices will be more limited than from an actual job site.
7. Guru.com -  Guru is another popular outsourcing site where you can hire Filipino online freelancers.  They have a good number of Filipinos registered on the site as freelancers, 2,022 when I last checked.  The very unique thing about this site is that it is free to use by employers.  Employers can post a job and hire without being charged with fees.  This is because Guru.com charges the freelancers 5-10% of their earnings to use the site.

   Guru has an internal payment system that is mandatory for users of the site.  They have a choice of two payment systems that an employer can use and the benefits are outlined in the following table:
   

8. WarriorForum.com – The WarriorForum is not a job or outsourcing site.  On the contrary, this is a popular internet marketing forum.  Ever since outsourcing has become popular, the forum has also become a place where people have discussed outsourcing.  Forum members, called warriors, are from all over the world.  Some members of this forum are employers and some are also freelancers.  The forum has a special place where you can commission one of its freelancer members to work for you.  You can find them under Warrior Products & Services > Warriors For Hire.  A lot of these “warriors” for hire are Filipinos.

The above-mentioned sites are some of the places where one can find and hire Filipino online freelancers.  This is a growing list and I will add more sites as I come across them.  If you know of other sites where one can hire Filipinos across all job categories, please bring the site to our attention by adding a comment to this post with a reference to the site.  We would greatly appreciate your help in making this list more comprehensive.

We look forward to hearing from you!

I may not be the best person to write about this.  No wait, on second thought, I think I am.  Shameless promotion of my country, race, and trade aside, I seriously believe that the Philippines is the best country you can outsource your work to.  And why do I think that?  Let me count the ways…

1. Filipinos are the best English-speakers in Southeast Asia – I even daresay that Filipinos are the best English-speakers in Asia.  The Philippines was an American-administered territory from 1898 until 1946 and was the site of American air and naval installations until 1991.  Because of this, the country is heavily influenced by the American culture and language.  English is the primary language of instruction in schools.  It is not difficult to find a Filipino that speaks very good English with little to no trace of a native accent.
2. Most Filipinos are well-educated – College education in the Philippines is relatively cheap and since you can never find a decent job in the country unless you graduate with a degree, a lot of Filipino students go to and finish college.  The educational standard in the Philippines is also competitive with other more developed countries and in fact, the country is seeing an influx of foreign students from neighboring Asian countries like Korea and China.
3. Filipinos love to please other people - Sometimes, to a fault.  Filipinos will put other people’s needs over their own.  If they have a guest in their home, they will give the guest the best room, the best linen, never mind if they end up sleeping on the floor.  Seriously.  Filipinos are weird that way.  Maybe that’s what our ancestors hammered into our subconscious.  We reserve the best china for guests and use cheap, ordinary dinnerware the rest of the time.  My point is, if you hire a Filipino, they will do what you ask them to do to the best of their abilities because they would want to please you.
4. Filipinos are very loyal – Treat them well and you will have a worker who will be willing to work with you until they are no longer able to.  Hiring a Filipino will lower your worker turnover.
5. Filipinos are familiar with Western business practices – Business practices in the Philippines are very similar to Western business practices, it is almost eerie.  However, being an American colony for almost 50 years, it is hardly surprising.  And did I mention that our accounting and legal systems are similar to America’s as well?
6. Filipinos have lower wages – I did save the best reason to hire a Filipino for last.  Filipino wages are, on an average, only about 12% of American wages for the same area of practice. That in itself is reason enough why a lot of work is being outsourced to our country and perhaps, you should too.

Now, it’s time for my shameless promotion:  Whenever you decide to outsource work, do think of Filipinos and the Philippines first.

So, here is a list of Philippine Holidays and the dates they fall on:

A. Regular Holidays

New Year’s Day - January 1

Holy Week – Since the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, majority of Filipinos observe this holiday.  It starts with Palm Sunday and ends with Easter Sunday.  Of the entire week, only Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are non-working holidays.  The date for this Catholic holiday is not fixed.  It usually falls between the third week of March to the second week of April.  The exact date is different every year and is dictated by the Vatican.  The date will be the same all over the world, though.

Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) – April 9 ; This day commemorates the Bataan Death March in 1942 of the World War II.

Labor Day – May 1

Independence Day – June 12 ; This commemorates the day the Philippines became a Republic.

National Heroes Day – August 30 ; This commemorates the Cry of Pugad Lawin by Filipino Revolutionary forces called the Katipunan led by its leader, Andres Bonifacio.

Bonifacio Day – November 30 ; This commemorates the birth date of one of the country’s heroes, Andres Bonifacio.

Christmas Day – December 25

Rizal Day – December 30 ; This commemorates the day when the Philippines’ national hero, Jose Rizal, died for the honor of the country.

B. Special (non-working) Holidays

Ninoy Aquino Day – August 21 ; This holiday commemorates the anniversary of the 1983 assassination of former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.

All Saints Day/All Souls Day – November 1 & 2 ; This is another one of the country’s Catholic holidays.  During this time, Filipinos visit the tomb of their dearly departed to offer prayers, flowers, and food.  Only November 1 is officailly a holiday.

Christmas Eve – December 24

New Year’s Eve – December 31

With this list, you will have a fair idea of when your employee may want to take time off from work.  As per my experience, Filipino freelancers usually take time off when the holiday involves time spent with family.  These will usually be the Holy Week (Maundy Thursday & Good Friday), All Saints & All Souls Day, Christmas, and New Year’s.

So what are the benefits that are required by the Philippine government to be given to working Filipinos?  To give a short run down, the following are government-mandated benefits:  Social Security System (SSS) contributions, Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) contributions, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-ibig Fund) contributions, 13th month pay, service incentive leave, meal and rest periods, overtime pay, special holiday/rest day rates, and night shift differentials.  Other more common benefits that are not mandated but are given by a lot of companies are: holiday bonus, mid-year bonus, and paid holiday and vacation leaves.

• Social Security Sytem (SSS) – The Social Security System was created by the Philippine government.  All employees hired by private companies are required to become an SSS member (Republic Act No. 8282).  This system aims to protect its members for when they are unable to work such as sickness, disability, maternity, old age and death, or other such contingencies not stated but will result in loss of income or results to a financial burden.  When an employee gets sick, SSS will reimburse them with their equivalent daily salary multiplied by the number of days absent.  When a female member gives birth, SSS gives the employee 2 months worth of salary to compensate for the time she will be off from work due to childbirth.  The SSS also serves as a pension plan for its members as SSS returns members’ monthly contributions after they retire from work.The amount of SSS monthly contribution is determined from the actual monthly salary an employee receives.  30% of total monthly contribution is deducted from an employee’s salary, while 70% is subsidized by the employer.
• Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth) – The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation is the medical insurance company of the Philippines.  All employees are required to be contributors of this service (Republic Act 7875).  Members are given health and hospitalization subsidies should they or a dependent be hospitalized.  Monthly contributions are based on actual employee monthly salaries and the amount of employee contribution is matched equally by the employer.
• Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-ibig Fund) – Employers are also required to contribute, on behalf of their employees, to the Home Development Mutual Fund (Republic Act 7835).  This company provides the lowest interest housing and land acquisition loans to its members that are payable for up to 30 years.  This gives every Filipino worker an opportunity to own a house in easy-payment plans that can directly be deducted from their monthly wages.
• 13th Month Pay – Based on Presidential Decree No. 851, all Filipino employees are entitled to a year-end bonus equivalent to one (1) month salary regardless of the nature of their employment.  The 13th month pay is to be given no later than December 24 of every year a worker is employed.
• Service Incentive Leave – According to Article 95 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, an employee who has worked for at least one (1) year in a company is entitled to five (5) days leave of absence, with pay, every year.  If the employee does not avail of these paid leaves, the company may opt to have them do a mandatory leave of absence, with pay, or convert these unavailed paid leaves to their cash equivalents, to be given at the end of each year.
• Meal and Rest Periods - According to Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, employees are entitled to one (1) hour break for meals on an eight-hour work day.  Employees are also entitled to adequate rest periods in the morning and afternoon, of short durations, that will be counted as hours worked.  These rest periods normally last for 15 minutes and can be used by employees as coffee or snack breaks.
• Overtime Pay and Holiday/Rest Day Pay - Under Article 87, an employee who renders over eight (8) hours of service per day shall be given an overtime pay which is equivalent to his regular hourly wage plus at least twenty-five percent (25%) thereof.  Under Article 93, if an employee is asked to work on their scheduled rest day or on a non-working holiday, the employee shall be paid an additional compensation of at least thirty percent (30%) of his regular wage.
• Night Shift Differential – According to Article 86, every employee shall be paid a night shift differential of not less than ten percent (10%) of his regular wage for each hour of work performed between ten o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning.
• Other company benefits – Other company benefits that are not government mandated, but are usually given to employees anyway are:
  Holiday/Christmas Bonus – This is given in December, on top of the 13th month pay.  This is considered as the company’s Christmas gift to their employees.
  Mid-Year Bonus – This is given in June, when the country’s school year starts.  This is to assist employees in school enrollment fees for their children.  This is also known as an educational assistance plan.
  Cost of Living Allowances – Some companies provide their employees with yearly rice, medicine, and clothing allowances.
  Paid Holiday and Vacation Leaves – On top of the mandated 5 days/year leave with pay, some companies give their employees additional paid holiday and vacation leaves.  The number of days allocated for these leaves usually vary from company to company and depends on the number of years an employee has been of service to the company.

All the benefits mentioned above, that are enjoyed by Filipino employees, are what “sweetens the deal” more than the regular salaries  that they receive.  When faced with a choice between two jobs that pay more or less the same in terms of salary, an employee will always consider company benefits in order to make a sound decision.  These benefits are equivalent to 30-50% of an employee’s yearly wage, sometimes more.  In the end, companies who know how to take good care of their employees will have a lower employee turn-over rate than those that give no more than government-required benefits.

Freelancers can opt to enroll themselves to SSS, PhilHealth, and HDMF as self-employed individuals to avail of the benefits these institutions offer.  However, if they’d wish to become members, they would have to shoulder the entire contribution themselves to cover for both employee contribution and employer subsidy.  The amount of the contribution will depend upon the income that freelancers will declare, and of course, benefits will also vary based on the amount of monthly contributions.

On my next post, I will discuss the difference between full time jobs and part-time jobs.

One of the more common courses that most Filipino students take up have to do with computers and information technology.  In this field, they have a higher chance of getting a job than any other course of study.  So, you might be wondering, how much does a computer professional earn in the Philippines?

According to ZDNet Asia’s Philippine IT Salary and Skills Report 2008, the following table shows the average annual salary of IT professionals in the Philippines.

Aside from IT professionals, you might also be interested to learn about average salaries for other traditional jobs that are comparable to more common jobs being outsourced on the internet nowadays.

• Average Salary of an Executive Assistant:

• Average Salary of a Data Encoder:

• Average Salary of a Customer Service Representative:

All of the above tables will help you determine the average salaries that working Filipinos receive for different job descriptions.  These are the rates given by brick and mortar companies and doesn’t include benefits – both government mandated and other benefits the companies may opt to provide their employees.  In essence, employees receive more than their salaries in the form of benefits.  They get pension plans, health care plans, paid leaves, overtime pay, cost of living allowances, 13th month pay, holiday bonuses, etc.  These benefits, more than anything, inevitably increase the value of an employee’s salary.  Nevertheless, this will give you a fair idea on the salary range you may wish to offer your Filipino contractor for similar job openings.  Just keep in mind that you’d have to add a certain percentage on top of these rates to compensate for the benefits that your worker will not be receiving if they work online.

On the next installment of this series, I will cover the different benefits that companies in the Philippines are required to give to their employees as mandated by the government, as well as other common benefits enjoyed by Filipino workers.

An online freelancer’s rate is determined by a lot of different factors, the most important being: the cost of living in their country, the skills and abilities of the said freelancer, and whether you are hiring for a full time position or a project-based endeavor.

It is a no-brainer that the cost of living in the Philippines is much lower than that of first-world countries like the US and the UK.  Consequently, you could get the same quality of work, if not better, from a Filipino provider for a much lower rate than what you would expect to pay providers in your own country.  However, contrary to what some people believe, paying a Filipino freelancer $200/month for 40 hours of highly-specialized work per week is hardly enough.  Between spending for food, rent, utilities, and expenses necessary for online work – like PC maintenance and internet connection, $200/month is not a livable rate.

The old adage, “You get what you pay for”, is also very much applicable to outsourcing.  You may be able to hire somebody for $1/hr, but  more often than not, you will get better quality work if you hire someone for a slightly higher rate.  If you are willing to pay a reasonable rate, you will easily find an intelligent, hardworking, trustworthy, and loyal contractor that will stay with you and grow with you and your business.

So how much is reasonable?  Now, that would really depend on the kind of work you are outsourcing. But before I get to that, let me give you a basis for the rates that I will be suggesting.  The minumum wage in the Philippines in the national capital region is roughly P8,000/month.  With the current exchange rate of P46.46 per $1 ( with paypal and xoom exchange rates a few points lower than prevailing exchange rates), the minimum wage would come up to $172.20/month.  This wage is given to rank and file employees, factory workers, fastfood employees, etc.  Naturally, white-collar workers get more than this.

Let me take for example the average salary a call center agent gets per month.  Why call centers, you ask? Call centers are the top outsourced industry to the Philippines and since we are talking about outsourcing in general, it would be a good basis in terms of rates.  An average call center agent earns P15,000 or $322.86 per month.  That is roughly $2/hour for 40 hours of work per week.  Call center agents don’t have to buy their own PCs/laptops, pay for an internet subscription, and pay for electricity.  Plus, companies spend a lot in training and building facilities.

Below is a table of suggested rates that you may want to pay a Filipino online freelancer based on the kind of work you are outsourcing.  I have come up with these rates based on my research on prevailing rates, both for traditional and online jobs.  Please note that these are just suggested rates, not absolutes, and you may want to just use this as a guide. These rates assume we’re talking about a worker of average to above average skill and experience.

Note that there is a significant difference between the project-based rates and the full time rates.  Full time rates are mostly lower because these jobs, more often than not, are long term as opposed to project-based jobs that are piecemeal. I’ll be writing a post about this later.  Also, these rates are given under the assumption that you are to hire average to above average-skilled workers.  Less skilled workers will naturally be paid less as you would need to spend time in training and teaching them the skills they will need to do the kind of work you’d want.

At the end of the day, what you decide to pay your worker will ultimately depend upon you and your business – the amount of responsibility you are willing to delegate, the role this worker plays in your administration, and the amount of money you are looking to earn with their help.  Whatever you decide, one thing remains certain: outsourcing to the Philippines may just be one of the best things you can do for yourself and your business.

More than the English speaking skills of Filipinos, a lot of foreign investors outsource jobs to our country because the labor here is a lot cheaper than in their own country.  They get the same quality of work for a much cheaper rate.

We all know that what governs employee rates/salaries is the cost of living in a particular country.  In a country where the cost of living is high, companies need to pay employees more in order for them to live comfortably with their incomes.  In developing countries like the Philippines, the cost of living is not as much as in highly developed countries, thus, employee rates are a lot lower.

I will be discussing the costs of common commodities in the Philippines in this post.  This is the first of a series of posts that will eventually help foreign employees determine the right rate to give Filipino online freelancers.

To determine the cost of living, one has to consider the cost of basic commodities (e.g. food, clothing), rent and utilities (e.g. water, electricity, telephone, cable, internet), transportation (e.g. cost of gas, car maintenance, cost of public transport), child care, etc.

Food

Let me first list the average cost of food in the Philippines.  The average meal for an individual will cost P70.00 ($1.40) if the meal is bought raw and prepared at home.  If one eats out in a fast food restaurant, they will spend P120.00 ($2.50), if in an average-cost restaurant, P200.00 ($4.00).  To give you a better idea, a Big Mac meal at McDonalds that costs $5.50 in the US only costs $2.50 in the Philippines.

Home & Utilities

To rent a decent house in the Philippines, where a family of five can live comfortably, will set you back P10,000-P15,000 ($200.00-$300.00) depending on the location of the property being rented.  The average cost for a water connection per month is P600.00 ($12.00).  The average monthly electrical bill if one has a TV, small refrigerator, and 1HP airconditioner will cost you P2,000.00 ($40.00).  Telephone service starts at P600.00 ($12.00), for a basic land line service which excludes long distance calls.  A broadband/DSL internet service with unlimited connection time costs P1000.00 ($20.00) per month.

Child Care

Another thing to factor in to determine the cost of living is child care.  Once people join the work force, it is inevitable that they will soon marry and have children.  The cost of rearing a child involves a lot of things, the most common being infant formula, diaper, and eventually, tuition and matriculation fees once they reach school age.

There are two types of schools in the Philippines – public schools and private schools.  Unlike in the US, where the quality of education one gets from public schools is comparable to private schools, there is a huge margin of difference in the quality of education between public and private schools in our country.  That is why, if one can afford to, they will always choose to send their children to a private school.  Private schools in the country charge an average of P40,000 ($800) per school year.  That is roughly P4,000 ($80) per month.  That includes school supplies and miscellaneous expenses.

Transportation

Public transportation is also relatively cheap in the Philippines.  A taxi ride starts at P45.00 ($0.90) for the first 4 kms and P10.00 ($0.20) per kilometer there after.  One can also take the public utility jeepney (PUJ) around the city, and that will cost around P8.00 ($0.16) per destination.  There are also buses that travel to the provinces and within the provinces, there are “tricycles/motorcabs”.

Based on all the figures I quoted above, one will have a fair idea of the cost of living in the Philippines.  Armed with this knowledge, one can deduce the right amount of compensation a Filipino would need to cover for basic needs and expenses.

On my next post, I will be discussing the average salaries for the different jobs and industries in the Philippines.

Manila, Capital city of the Philippines

The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. The Philippines was a former colony of Spain and the United States until it achieved independence in 1946. It is the world’s 12th most populous country, with an estimated population of about 92 million people. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands, making it one of the most diverse countries in the world.

The Philippines’ edge among other Asian outsourcing locations is their skilled, well educated, computer literate and highly trainable manpower. The country also has good telecommunications infrastructure and most importantly, its labor cost is equivalent to only 10%-20% of equivalent jobs in the US, which guarantees huge savings for your company.  According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Filipino and English are the official languages in the Philippines. Because English is taught in all schools in the country, and because most private schools use English as the main language of instruction, many Filipinos are completely fluent in English. And because most Filipinos speak English with very little trace of a native accent, the Philippines is the premiere choice to outsource call centers to.

According to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the Philippines’ percentage of professionals and labor pool suitable for global work has higher rates than those of both India and China. The reason is their strong educational system. It boasts a literacy rate of 92.4% and is home to top educational institutions, therefore producing a large number of talented, English speaking college graduates entering the labor pool each year. In Metro Manila alone, there are 81 higher education institutions and almost 2,000 other schools.

Explore the enormous talent market of this country here at EasyOutsource. If you are looking for quality, cost-effective online workers to help you grow your business, go with the Philippines! Sign up Free