The “Zombie Tsunami” — that’s what Riva and her friends call the rush hour in Cebu.
The former call center employee gladly escaped that madness by taking a stay-at-home job with HireSmart Virtual Employees.
“We have the race for a Jeepney,” she said. “The traffic here in the Philippines is really bad, especially if it’s peak hours. There’s a lot of people waiting for public transportation.”
Riva now works from the comfort of her apartment with her cat, “Bob,” and avoids the daily traffic frustrations.
Jonalyn can relate to Riva’s perspective. She spent several years in the “Zombie Tsunami.”
“In a call center, oh my God, I have to travel for two to three hours to get to work,” she said.
Jonalyn also escaped the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry and works from home with HireSmart Virtual Employees. Stay-at-home employment makes a difference for mothers who team with HireSmart.
“I can take care of my family while working here at home,” she said.
DOUBLED COMPENSATION AT HIRESMART
Like Riva and Jonalyn, Roxet also jumped from employment at a call center to HireSmart. The move paid off in a big way. She doubled her compensation while also working fewer hours.
“That (twice the pay) was something I’m very grateful for,” she said. “The pay I got for working too much compared to the pay I get right now for working eight hours a day, five days a week, is a really big difference.”
Roxet said she was expected to work 40 hours of overtime every month — or five weeks of responsibilities crammed into four — due to the high turnover of employees at her call center.
“We were expected to take another extra 40 hours because we have to cover the volume of calls because there were a lot of people resigning,” she said. “So those who were left had to cover for those hours. That was very tiring. Exhausting, really! And to think that I was only getting half of what I make now (with HireSmart) — that (the call center) was a really traumatic experience.”
CALL CENTER OVERLOAD
Riva said understaffing was also an issue in her call-center job for a healthcare company.
“I feel like the company got understaffed, and the agents suffered because of that,” she said.
Jonalyn said the call center experience was exhausting. She arrived at work tired from the commute and often used her break to nap.
She said she worked in a cubicle but couldn’t personalize the space since it was shared by multiple people working different shifts.
“When you work in a call center, it’s very loud,” said Jonalyn. “You cannot focus on your job. You cannot focus on what you’re doing. It’s not comfortable. In working from home, you set up your own space as comfy as you want.”
Virtual employees (VEs) at HireSmart work full-time with one client and build professional relationships with co-workers in the U.S. But call center work is not focused on relationship building, and employees field numerous calls per shift from frustrated U.S. citizens.
Roxet handled calls for a travel agency.
“Sometimes people would ask for refunds,” she said. “And those kinds of calls can be really hard because it’s the airline’s policy and not ours. So we have to abide by the airline’s policy. And sometimes people don’t understand that. So they thought we’re making their life hard, but it’s actually the policy.”
THE EMOTIONAL TOLL OF CALL CENTERS
Angry calls took an emotional toll on Roxet. She said she got “tired, burned out, and traumatized by the bad calls.”
“There was a time when I had a call, and I cried due to the words from that person,” said Roxet. “And then you have to compose yourself. Somebody was just being mean. You have to accommodate the requests of the new client.”
Riva said call center work in the Philippines isn’t for sensitive people.
“We have kind of a daily motto or saying that whatever the caller says, it should go here to here (she motions for “in one ear and out the other”),” she said. “It should not go straight to the heart because it can really hurt you.”
Call center employees are closely monitored, and Riva said some of the practices she saw bothered her, such as an operations manager chastising an agent in front of others.
“I believe that when you recognize someone, you should do it publicly,” she said. “But when you criticize someone, you should do it one-on-one. It should be sensitive because it can demotivate an agent.”
A BETTER LIFE AT HIRESMART
Riva said she learned a lot from her call center experiences. She said fellow Filipinos can, too.
“They can learn a lot of things in the call center industry,” she said. “But if they want a job where they can be paid well, and where their time is really respected — like if it’s their time off, then it’s their time off — and if they want the peace of mind we all deserve, then they should really look into HireSmart.”
Roxet agrees and says being at home every day with her 4-year-old daughter is priceless. She said becoming a mom changed everything.
“I didn’t know how it is to be a mother; I had no idea,” she said. “But now it is life-changing, and you won’t be able to expect how much you’ll be able to love someone. Everything I do is for her future.”
HireSmart supports employees’ children, too. For instance, HireSmart covers the annual cost of private school education for 25 children of virtual employees for up to four years per child.
HireSmart Filipino Scholarships: Cristina’s Story
The company provides free health and dental benefits to its VEs at no cost to its U.S. clients. It supports its employees in times of distress, such as after Typhoon Rai in 2021, when the company assisted 31 employees with financial aid to help families recover.
HireSmart Cares Typhoon Assistance — Richan’s Story
Meanwhile, HireSmart Cares, the company’s nonprofit arm, also funds various educational and workforce development initiatives to help U.S. youth succeed.
A call to action: HireSmart Cares aims to help youth realize their potential
HireSmart is literally “home” to hundreds of virtual employees who no longer face the “Zombie Tsunami,” who receive better pay, health and dental insurance, scholarship opportunities for their children, support during hard times, pre-placement training, regular assistance from supportive staff, and leadership class opportunities — all from the comfort of home.
Could you feel at home with HireSmart? Click here to apply to HireSmart Virtual Employees.
