What Are the Pros and Cons of Outsourcing to the Philippines?

The pros of outsourcing to the Philippines include access to a large and talented workforce, cost savings on labor and other expenses, the ability to focus on core business activities, and the support of a well-developed business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

However, there are also some potential cons to outsourcing to the Philippines. One potential con is the possibility of language and cultural barriers, which can make it difficult to communicate with and manage outsourced workers. In addition, there may be time zone differences to consider that can make it challenging to coordinate with outsourced workers in real time. Finally, there may be concerns about the quality and reliability of outsourced workers, particularly for complex or technical tasks.

Overall, the pros and cons of outsourcing to the Philippines will vary depending on the specific needs and goals of a small business. It is important for business owners to carefully evaluate their options and consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing to the Philippines before making a decision.

What Are the Benefits for Small Business Owners Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Outsourcing to the Philippines can provide several benefits for small business owners. One of the main benefits is access to a large pool of talented and skilled workers. The Philippines has a large and growing workforce, with a high literacy rate and a strong educational system. Many Filipinos are fluent in English, which is the language of business in the Philippines, and have experience working in customer service, technical support, and other roles that are important for businesses.

Outsourcing to the Philippines can also help small business owners save money on labor and other expenses. The cost of labor in the Philippines is generally lower than that of other countries, especially compared to countries with a high cost of living like the United States and Canada. This can help small business owners reduce their operating costs and increase their profitability. In addition to labor costs, the cost of other expenses, such as office space and utilities, is also generally lower in the Philippines.

Another benefit of outsourcing to the Philippines is the ability to focus on core business activities. By outsourcing non-core tasks, such as customer service and data entry, to external providers in the Philippines, small business owners can free up time and resources to focus on their core competencies. This can help them improve their product or service, develop new products or services, and better serve their customers.

The Philippines also has a strong infrastructure and a well-developed business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which can make it easier for small business owners to find and work with reliable outsourcing partners. The BPO industry in the Philippines is well-established and has a proven track record of providing high-quality services to businesses around the world. The country also has a stable political and economic environment, which can provide a measure of security for small business owners who are considering outsourcing.

In summary, outsourcing to the Philippines can provide small business owners with access to a large and talented workforce, cost savings on labor and other expenses, the ability to focus on core business activities, and the support of a well-developed BPO industry. These benefits can help small business owners improve their operations, increase their profitability, and better serve their customers.

What Are the Drawbacks to Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Some potential drawbacks to outsourcing to the Philippines include the potential for language and cultural barriers, time zone differences, and concerns about the quality and reliability of outsourced workers.

Language and cultural barriers can make it difficult for small business owners to communicate with and manage outsourced workers in the Philippines. Many Filipinos are fluent in English, but there may still be differences in language and cultural norms that can make communication and collaboration challenging.

Time zone differences can also be a potential drawback of outsourcing to the Philippines. Depending on the location of a small business and the location of its outsourced workers in the Philippines, there may be a significant time difference that can make it difficult to coordinate work in real time.

Finally, there may be concerns about the quality and reliability of outsourced workers in the Philippines. While the BPO industry in the Philippines is well-established and known for providing high-quality services, there may be concerns about the ability of outsourced workers to handle complex or technical tasks.

Overall, these potential drawbacks should be carefully considered by small business owners who are considering outsourcing to the Philippines. It may be necessary to take steps to mitigate these potential drawbacks, such as providing language training and implementing effective communication and collaboration tools, in order to successfully outsource work to the Philippines.

Is Outsourcing Good for the Philippines?

Outsourcing can be good for the Philippines in several ways. First, outsourcing can provide employment and income opportunities for workers in the Philippines. The BPO industry in the Philippines is a major source of employment, with many Filipinos working in customer service, technical support, and other roles for companies around the world.

Second, outsourcing can help the Philippines develop its economy and infrastructure. The BPO industry in the Philippines has grown rapidly in recent years, attracting significant investment and contributing to the country’s economic growth. This has helped the Philippines improve its infrastructure, including its telecommunications and transportation networks, and has contributed to the development of new industries and services.

Third, outsourcing can help the Philippines build its reputation as a global business hub. The BPO industry in the Philippines has gained a reputation for providing high-quality services at competitive prices, which has helped the country attract more outsourcing clients and establish itself as a major player in the global outsourcing market.

Overall, outsourcing can be good for the Philippines by providing employment and income opportunities, supporting economic growth and development, and building the country’s reputation as a global business hub.

How Do You Start Outsourcing Work to the Philippines?

You can start by posting a job for free at OnlineJobs.ph. But keep in mind, once candidates start applying, you will need to pay to contact them. But at least you are able to see what kind of candidates you can reach without any risk.

Video Transcript

In this video, you will get answers to these questions:

• What is outsourcing to the Philippines?
• Who might want to outsource to the Philippines?
• What are the benefits to outsourcing to the Philippines?
• What are the drawbacks of outsourcing to the Philippines?
• When might a company decide to outsource to the Philippines?
• What type of work is good to be outsourced to the Philippines?
• Is outsourcing good for the Philippines?
• How do you start outsourcing to the Philippines?
• Which website is best for outsourcing to the Philippines?
• How do you hire people in the Philippines?
• What is my process for hiring in the Philippines?
• How do you train remote Filipino workers?
• Will outsourcing continue to play a role in businesses?
• What industries commonly outsource to the Philippines?
• What are the typical costs of outsourcing to the Philippines?
• What is a good salary in the Philippines?
• How do Filipino costs, quality, and reliability compare to other countries?
• How can you protect confidential data when outsourcing?
• How do cultural differences impact outsourcing to the Philippines?
• Is there a language barrier when outsourcing to the Philippines?
• What tips can improve communication when outsourcing to the Philippines?
• What support and infrastructure is available for outsourced staff in the Philippines?
• Are Filipino workers employees or independent contractors?
• Are there legal requirements and regulations for outsourcing to the Philippines?
• Are there local Filipino employment laws and regulations?
• How can remote Filipino worker be integrated into your company culture and processes?
• What is the current state of the outsourcing industry in the Philippines?
• Are there any reasons you shouldn’t outsource to the Philippines?

Outsourcing to the Philippines, is it right for your business? That’s the issue I am addressing today. I am speaking to you as an attorney who has outsourced to the Philippines since 2009, so that’s over 14 years. We didn’t do it consistently, and our experience has been a little bit bumpy. I am going to talk with you today about why I am a big believer today in outsourcing to the Philippines, and some of the problems that I have experienced and how we overcame them or how they were otherwise resolved.

Now, if you are running a business, maybe you have thought about outsourcing, maybe you have thought about outsourcing to India, Ukraine or the Philippines, or some other country, and you have wondered how do you handle certain issues. What about security? What about confidentiality? You know, if I hire an assistant who works in my law office, it’s very important to me that that assistant be present in the office. I can see what that person’s working on. I can limit what’s on their computer. I can overhear the conversations and phone calls. I have a lot of careful controls over that. Contrast that with a remotely working employee in another country who your government and your court system has no control over; you don’t have any control over who’s looking over their screen, and who else has access to their computer, and what spam or spyware might be on their computer.

So you can see there is quite a spectrum when you think about the risk, and when you are running a company where you have important secrets and confidential information, like a law firm, how do you handle that, and how can we effectively utilize an employee or a contractor in another country without running into risks that could jeopardize our business, our clients, or others?

So, I am talking with you today about outsourcing to the Philippines, pros and cons, and important considerations. I am Aaron Hall, an attorney for business owners and entrepreneurial companies. I provide these educational videos to help business owners improve their companies, avoid legal pitfalls, and really grow their company and their lives to success. If you haven’t already downloaded the Seven Common Legal Mistakes Made by New Businesses, I encourage you to get that. It’s free. I put that out as just a simple way for you to immediately knock out some of the common problems that destroy other companies. It’s a free PDF, a little handout that you can get at aaronhall.com/free. So go to aaronhall.com/free. Once you get that, and again, it’s free. You will also have the option to continue to receive periodic videos with me providing additional educational material on how to dig in a little deeper to those seven common legal pitfalls and how to practically address those in your company. I give you some tools and some questions to bring up with your own business attorney and some educational content to empower you to avoid common problems that have brought down businesses in the past.

What Is Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Let’s talk about that first. Outsourcing to the Philippines is when you take some work in your business and you have somebody in the Philippines do that work for you and send it back. For hundreds and thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, this hasn’t been a possibility. But now with the technology of internet, I work every day during the weekdays, and somebody is working on our behalf in the Philippines fulfilling some sort of project or tasks. And so the next morning, when I get up, that person has been working in their daylight hours and now has completed some work.

The Philippines outsourcing is an incredible opportunity to keep a company running 24 hours day five days a week at least. You could also utilize people on weekends. Really leveraging that shift in time zones. It’s also an opportunity to utilize people who are in a culture that isn’t a spectacular fit with what the needs of United States companies are, and I will elaborate on that a little bit more in a moment here. All right. Let’s cover some frequently asked questions related to outsourcing in the Philippines.

Who Might Want to Outsource to the Philippines?

I think it’s going to be any business who is looking for reliable work at an extremely reasonable rate because you are paying a fair wage in the Philippines, which is very different from a fair wage in the United States. You have the types of projects that actually can be outsourced without some sort of security risk or needing somebody to be physically in the office.

What Are the Benefits to Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Quality help for a rate that is relatively low compared to the rest of the world.

What Are the Drawbacks of Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Well, first off, sometimes you just need somebody in the office. You need an assistant to grab the mail and scan it in. While you might find a way to use a service to do that, and then a Filipino worker could do the rest, I have found that I need an assistant that I can physically interact with hand papers to, or I can say, “Hey, I am having this problem on my computer. Looks like we need to try some basic troubleshooting. Could you do that?” Now, arguably some of that can be done remotely, but I find it’s important to at least have one person who can assist me and handle those sorts of physical things. If I walk into the office, for example, and have some stuff that needs to be divided up and delegate it out. I need to be able to hand that to somebody. So, obviously, one drawback to outsourcing the Philippines is certain roles that require a physical presence cannot be outsourced. Another drawback to outsourcing to the Philippines can be some English differences, but it’s not always the case. And actually, In 2009, when I started outsourcing to the Philippines, I had hired an attorney there to assist me with working on certain articles, written works that I was doing, and I was new to this. I decided I am not going to give her any confidential information, and I can tell you this, she was a hard worker, she was reliable, she was trustworthy, but what didn’t work for me is her English wasn’t quite on track with US English. There were some differences, but that is not as often the case today. And what I would recommend is that you test English as part of the interview process, so you are only looking at candidates that have extraordinary English, and we have had great success with that recently. So I think those are the two drawbacks that you are dealing with somebody who is not physically present, they are remote, and second, there can be some English issues, but again, that can easily be overcome.

When Might a Company Decide to Outsource to the Philippines?

I would recommend doing it as soon as you have a project that can be outsourced or that could be done by somebody who is good at English but working remotely, and then you can hire for the skillset that you need. But I would say do it as soon as possible. Outsourcing to the Philippines is a fantastic option for certain types of work.

What Type of Work Is Good to be Outsourced to the Philippines?

Well, a lot of creative work is outsourced, a lot of written work. I am extremely cautious about confidential information, and there is some peace of mind that I have having confidential information only available in a physical office. Now, can people steal that information? Could they copy it to a flash drive or take a photo of it and move it out of the office? Absolutely. In fact, the United States Supreme Court recently ran into that issue where somebody leaked a confidential court decision prior to it being publicly released. It had to be somebody within the court system, and since COVID, more and more companies have been relying on remote workers, and that has caused employers to wrestle with the fact that now remote workers have strictly confidential information, which is what it appears happened with the Supreme Court that a lot of the court workers were working remotely. So what kind of work can be outsourced to the Philippines? I think it is generally going to be the type of work that you can outsource or can be done by remote workers. And, of course, then there’s the risk of their computer system. The worker’s computer system, is it secured? Does anyone else have access to it? So just like a remote worker in the United States, you are going to have to think about your remote worker in the Philippines. Do they have the proper security protocols, etc.?

I have found an excellent type of work to outsource is work related to social media, video editing like this, taking videos like this, and putting it up on the different social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, podcasts, etc. All of that is done through someone in the Philippines who works with us and is absolutely fantastic. So that’s a simple example of the type of non-confidential information and projects that can easily be outsourced to the Philippines, and at a very reasonable rate with a person who is thoughtful and aligns well with the important core values and character traits that United States companies are looking for. And also, the work gets done when our day ends. I will take this video, and I will upload it to the cloud, and then it becomes available to our person in the Philippines, who will immediately start working in my evening, which is her day.

Is Outsourcing Good for the Philippines?

Well, when we are providing work to people, I always think that’s fantastic, and we are getting significant value from that. It is a great two-way exchange. It is a win-win, and the more companies that offer jobs and provide working opportunities to people in the Philippines, the more that helps the Filipino economy. It helps the Filipinos individually. It helps their families who they care for. I believe that it is moral and valuable to help people groups, to provide them with jobs, and to provide them with opportunities to earn an honest living and care for their families and take care of their needs. So it is a win-win.

How Do You Start Outsourcing to the Philippines?

I am going to have a couple of links below, and those will provide some information on where you go to get started. I use Onlinejobs.ph. In my experience, that is by far the best option out there right now in 2023. I use a different service in 2009 when I got started, but that service ran into problems. Here’s what I like about OnlineJobs.ph. When you go out there and post a job, you get all the resumes, and then you can do your whole interview process just like you would any other job posting that you put out there. You are not paying an agency to filter people for you and having to trust them to look for the things that are important to you. You handle it one-on-one. And in fact, there is another link below to some training that I highly recommend. It’s put out by John Jonas, the owner of OnlineJobs.ph., and that training is refined best practices on how to filter out the job applicants who are not a great fit for you and identify only the ones who have great English if that’s important to you and all the other qualities that you are looking for. It is by far the most efficient process I have seen.

Let me just tell you a little bit about the process that John Jonas teaches in his training. One of the brilliant aspects of the training that I have applied to hiring in the United States as well is as follows. You set up a series of email questions and conduct email interviews with people. You identify questions that allow you to get to know the person, and it’s kind of start on the surface, and then you go a little deeper, and you find out what motivates them. You find out what their background is, especially their background appropriate to the job. You find out what their environment is, and challenges they face in the past, and how they work through those challenges. This email interview process is brilliant because by the end of the process, in an extremely efficient manner, you have identified who has the qualities you are looking for, the character, the writing ability, the writing organization, the English familiarity, and proficiency as well as all the other requirements for the particular type of job you are looking for. It is also extremely efficient because, essentially, you can identify the questions to be asked, and the training provides a lot of sample questions, which are fantastic. And then, once you have sent those questions, the candidates provide answers, and you go back and forth, back and forth. So you maybe do ten questions at a time and get ten answers, and you can assign somebody else who reflects your core values in your company to review those. And that’s what I did. I had one of my employees review the responses and filter people out in that way. This training is linked below, and I highly encourage anybody who is looking at using the OnlineJobs.ph hiring process to spend the money. I think it’s about $50 to go through this quick training, get the sample questions, and just do exactly as was done.

I made the mistake of trying to watch all of the podcasts and videos from John Jonas with little tips and techniques. It is just a really inefficient way to get all the tips and techniques, and it’s not in the most organized way when you are listening to a hundred different YouTube videos. The training that you can go through goes through it methodically, step by step by step each day, what you need to do in the hiring process, and it’s fantastic, and it’s quick and easy. To me, time is money. In hindsight, I should have just bought the training for the $50, to begin with, or whatever the fee is, and forgot about all the YouTube videos. I didn’t need to watch all of those and spend hours doing that. The training has exactly what you need. If you follow it, I believe it is highly likely that you will get an outstanding Filipino worker. And in fact, I believe the training has some sort of guarantee related to that.

Which Website is Best for Outsourcing to the Philippines?

There’s really only one right now, and it’s OnlineJobs.ph. That’s the place that the Filipino workers go to post their resumes and apply for jobs. That’s the place that most employers that I am aware of go in order to post quality jobs.

How Do You Hire People in the Philippines?

Step one, post the job out on OnlineJobs.ph. Step two, review the candidate submissions. Right from the moment that job goes live, you will start getting job applicant resumes and cover letters. And then, my recommendation is go through the training that John Jonas provides an extremely reasonable rate so that you know exactly how to do email interviews and the types of questions to ask, and how to filter people out, and actually, every other step in the hiring process is done like that. You certainly can follow the standard hiring process that a company uses for hiring remote workers in the United States. But I think John Jonas has really refined that process and has a few methodologies and techniques that I had not seen anywhere else. And when I implemented them, it just made the process so much smoother. It resulted in higher-quality candidates quickly boiling to the top, and it saved a lot of time.

What is My Process for Hiring in the Philippines?

First, I identify what is the work that I can outsource to somebody who’s working remotely. And I would say to myself, assuming I have somebody I trust who’s thoughtful, who’s a hard worker, who has good English, what other criteria do I have for that worker to take over a particular project? And once I identify the projects that I can hand off and the criteria for that, I lay that out in a job posting. I put it up on OnlineJobs.ph, and the candidates start coming in. And then I just follow the approach from John Jonas’ training in doing the email interviews initially. You can always do Zoom interviews later if you want. I found I didn’t need to do that for what I’ve hired for so far, that those email interviews were quite comprehensive and telling, and for jobs that don’t require face-to-face conversation and is more processing and writing, I wanted to interface with the worker in the way that I would be communicating with the worker on the job. So because I don’t do Zoom calls with remote workers like this, I decided to stick with email because when there’s a frictionless email interview and you get to know somebody, that sets a stage for success in onboarding them in a frictionless interaction once the person starts working on the job.

How Do You Train Remote Filipino Workers?

Well, you train them like any other workers. Simple options include recording your screen, doing some sort of screen recording, and explaining how to do something. Another cool service available from John Jonas and OnlineJobs.ph is a lot of training they have already put together for the types of roles that are routinely outsourced to the Philippines. So graphic editing, video editing, social media posting, marketing, all sorts of these categories. I think they are over 50. They have training that’s already prepared on that, so you can actually hand the training to your new worker, and that can train them in. And then there’s a little bit of training for you as the CEO, so you know how to interface with that worker well in that particular area. It’s a fantastic system. To summarize, you can use the approach that’s already packaged up for you through OnlineJobs.ph if you buy their training, or you could just provide your own training like you would with any other workers; you are just doing it remotely. And in COVID, we started training in a lot of workers remotely because that’s how people were working during that time and still do today.

Will Outsourcing Continue to Play a Role in Businesses?

Absolutely. As the internet grows, as internet speeds increase, and as English proficiency expands across the globe, utilizing workers in other countries will only expand, and the Philippines is uniquely positioned for that because of the way the Filipino character and culture aligns with what United States companies are looking for. If you have a company in another country, the Philippines may not have the same chemistry that they have with the United States. What’s unique about the Philippines is the integrity, the desire to serve, the fact that it’s less likely for a person to have an ego or try to take your business from you. You know, a lot of companies and a lot of businesses, you may do business with somebody, and ultimately their goal is to compete with you or take your business and take your clients and take your workers and run with it. That doesn’t exist in the Filipino culture because of their faith and religion, and background, and there are strong ethics that are present in the Filipino culture as it exists today in 2023 that makes the people in this country uniquely complimentary to companies and entrepreneurs in the United States. That’s why I highly recommend starting with the country of the Philippines before you outsource to any other country. I think these people are extraordinary, and they have some strengths like hard work and honesty and integrity, and a desire to serve that you don’t find an equal measure in other countries.

What Industries Commonly Outsource to the Philippines?

Any processing of data, marketing, creative work, design, computers, programming, writing. It’s really extraordinary. I mean, if you think about it, this is an entire country of talented people in every industry. And so, as far as I am aware, every industry is represented in outsourcing to the Philippines, from law firms to medical providers, where they have people sign confidentiality agreements before processing the medical data. They have secure confidentiality protocols and risk protocols in place. And then, of course, a lot of entrepreneurial companies and e-commerce companies and influencers have learned that it’s easy to outsource tasks and projects of that nature.

What Are the Typical Costs of Outsourcing to the Philippines?

For that, I would probably recommend you take a look at the guide produced by OnlineJobs.ph. I will link to that in the show notes, and you can see average rates year by year. So it’s always the current year for different types of jobs and duties. But I will tell you this, on average, it’s somewhere from my experience, it’s somewhere between $500 and a thousand dollars in US dollars per month for each person who’s working in the Philippines. And, of course, it depends on their skill set. If you are hiring an attorney, maybe more. If you are hiring an attorney with ten years of experience analyzing US cases and writing for judges or law firms in the United States, or maybe they are educated through a United States law school, maybe they are licensed in the United States. Obviously, that person is going to get more than the standard rate for posting content on social media, for example.

What Is a Good Salary in the Philippines?

I would defer to the experts at OnlineJobs.ph for that. But from what I understand, generally, $500 to a thousand dollars a month is very good compensation, and many people have substantially less than that for taking care of their family and their needs.

How Do Filipino Costs, Quality, and Reliability Compare to Other Countries?

From my experience, the cost is extremely reasonable. In the Philippines, the quality can be very good, but like any workers, you need to have quality control and good training, and ongoing supervision and review. So I would say the quality is probably comparable to what I see with workers in the United States, which of course, is quite a variety depending on who we are talking about here. And this is a whole country of people, so you have quite a variety. But I would say my experience has been just like you can run into quality people, or I should say people who pay attention to detail in the United States and those who don’t. You see the same statistical amounts of people in the Philippines. Reliability, I would say, the Philippines is a little bit higher than the United States. In the United States, people just drop a job from time to time. They will burn their employers. They won’t give two weeks’ notice. There’s a feeling in the United States like, “You know what? The company, you will be fine. I am going to do what’s right for me.” I have not had that same experience with Filipino workers. There is a loyalty and care, and a desire to do the right thing in the Philippines that I think is much stronger than I have seen in the United States.

How Can You Protect Confidential Data When Outsourcing?

Well, this is going to be just like any remote workers. You need to make sure that the computer is secure, that the person is trustworthy, and has established trust over time. I mean, you are not going to take confidential banking documents and immediately send them to a bunch of entry-level workers in any country. You are not going to allow remote workers who are working from home or a small office to have access to a bunch of financial information. It really isn’t any different from hiring in the United States with remote workers.

How Do Cultural Differences Impact Outsourcing to the Philippines?

The training that I have participated in has indicated that there can be an issue in the Philippines of people being concerned about disappointing their boss and not being comfortable asking questions and continuing to just spin their wheels trying to find the answer and not want to face the fact that they just don’t know the answer or don’t have some information. That’s not been my experience, but I am told that that is a cultural challenge. Aside from that, I am not aware of any other cultural differences except for the fact we might have different TV shows, different radio, some slightly different terminology, especially in particular industries might have more familiarity with. Landmarks in the United States than somebody in the Philippines would have. That only makes sense; I don’t have the same experience with their landmarks in the Philippines. So, for example, if you were asking somebody to write up something about Yellowstone Park, well, obviously, somebody who has been there or has grown up near Yellowstone Park is going to be more equipped to do that than someone in the Philippines. But somebody from the Philippines can review online information and organize that information in a manner that actually does provide value to a reader or a viewer of a video.

Is There a Language Barrier When Outsourcing to the Philippines?

No, there are some slight differences, but you can just test candidates to find those that have the right fluency level that you need with United States English. So I have not found that to be a barrier at all. It’s important, though, that in the hiring process that you are looking for candidates who are strong in United States English if that’s something that’s important to you. You might say, “How can they get strong in United States English if they are not growing up in the United States watching United States TV, watching United States cartoons growing up as a kid, reading United States books and publications, watching movies produced out of the United States?” There is plenty of opportunity to become familiar with the unusual aspects of United States English, even if somebody is not in the United States. And for the Filipino workers who are seeking jobs for United States companies, many of them have extraordinary English by US standards.

What Tips Can Improve Communication When Outsourcing to the Philippines?

OnlineJobs.ph has a great podcast with its owner, John Jonas, on this and YouTube videos. In my experience, the tips that have been helpful in our communications: have clear communication so don’t rely on somebody to read your mind or to imply what you are meaning. Be really clear about what it is you are saying. Speak slowly, and allow that person time to ask questions, and invite the person to ask questions if they have any. Those are the tips that I have to improve communications when outsourcing to the Philippines.

What Support and Infrastructure Is Available for Outsourced Staff in the Philippines?

In the Philippines, especially near the larger city areas, they have high-speed internet and much more reliable internet and utilities, electricity, and all of that infrastructure. There are like United States; there are rural parts that may have less reliable internet, may be relying on satellites. So talking with your prospective Filipino worker about where they are located, how fast is the internet, how reliable is it. That is an important part of the interview process. And those are some of the questions that are provided by John Jonas in his training that I found very helpful to integrate in our interview process. It is also important to keep in mind that because the Philippines involves a number of islands that are affected by hurricanes, there may be times, just like in the United States, when a hurricane hits. It happens a little more frequently in the Philippines. I think, perhaps, because the Philippines are more islands instead of one big land mass. But having some understanding there and maybe even some backup plans would be helpful. In my experience, though, my Filipino workers have been consistent and reliable, and I can only think of one time when a hurricane hit, and I think one of my workers was out for two days. But hey, that happens in Florida from time to time.

Are Filipino Workers Employees or Independent Contractors?

You have the option of either. Similar to the United States, where you can designate a worker as an employee or an independent contractor. Similar rules apply, so you have the option of either independent contractor or employee. Now, perhaps, one difference is in the United States, you have state and federal government looking out for employees and auditing companies to see if their workers are properly categorized, whereas the Filipino government is not going to have jurisdiction and authority to audit a United States company and determine whether an independent contractor should be recharacterized as an employee.

Are There Legal Requirements and Regulations for Outsourcing to the Philippines?

Well, this is interesting because the Philippines have regulations, but US companies aren’t governed by those, and US companies have regulations, but Filipino workers are not within that jurisdiction. So, in my experience, as a result of that, unless you are actually willing to commence a lawsuit or bring some sort of legal action in the other company, it is largely based on trust, which makes sense to have written into a contract; fair practices in interacting with your workers. But there is less government scrutiny because the Filipino government doesn’t scrutinize United States companies’ practices, and the US government doesn’t scrutinize whether the Filipino worker has rights that might have been violated. This probably gives some room for US companies to abuse the relationship. But let’s face it, these days, with the internet, it doesn’t take long for you to get a bad reputation, and OnlineJobs.ph has done a nice job of providing best practices so that a predator or a scam artist can’t continue to scam people. It gets stopped, and US companies have found that the integrity and the honesty of the Filipino people results in a trusted and reliable experience working with a Filipino team.

Are There Local Filipino Employment Laws and Regulations?

There are, but I am not familiar with them. There is some guidance on OnlineJobs.ph about where you can find that information and what sort of protections and regulations are available there. Again, though, United States companies aren’t subject to that jurisdiction.

How Can Remote Filipino Worker Be Integrated into Your Company Culture and Processes?

Can a remote Filipino worker be integrated into your company culture and processes? Quite simply, yes. Filipino workers are just like any other remote workers. You have a process for sharing your vision, your mission, your core values, assessing those core values, continuing to repeat the messaging and the stories that bring those core values to life. So there, I think COVID was a paradigm shift for employers. All of a sudden, employers in the United States had to learn how to work with remote workers, and those same practices now opened up a whole world of employees who are available to US companies. And what I am talking about are the Filipino people who are just extraordinary in adding to United States team to augment what the US employees and contractors are already doing for the company.

What Is the Current State of the Outsourcing Industry in the Philippines?

It’s thriving. From what I hear and see, it is on a growth trajectory, and that’s because COVID raised employers awareness that they could better utilize remote workers. COVID forced governments and industries to allow for the utilization of remote workers like never before. And technology like Zoom and internet speeds only continue to improve, allowing for seamless communication and passing of information between a company and its workers around the world.

So that is my quick review of what I have seen in outsourcing to the Philippines since 2009. Some people have had some bad experiences. Hey, talk to any employer. We have had bad experiences with employees, so don’t let the bad experiences with a US employee prevent you from ever hiring a US employee again. Likewise, don’t let somebody’s bad experience in outsourcing prevent you from utilizing the value of outsourcing, especially outsourcing to the Philippines, where the people are just wonderful. I highly recommend that if you do it, pay the small fee to get the course of best practices from John Jonas with OnlineJobs.ph. That training saved me so much time, so many mistakes and help me get to the best candidates possible. I am excited because I believe that outsourcing to the Philippines will help many more companies and it will provide many more jobs and help the economy and the families in the Philippines.

Are There Any Reasons You Shouldn’t Outsource to the Philippines?

Well, I think if you are struggling to manage the people that you have and struggling as a manager, that’s not going to go away when outsourcing to the Philippines. If you haven’t yet figured out what projects and work can be outsourced to a remote worker, that needs to be done first. Also, there may be certain jobs or responsibilities that need to be done either in person or by a licensed US person; obviously, that’s not a job that can be outsourced entirely; maybe parts of it could, like legal research. For example, you could easily outsource legal research releasing any confidential information, and then once you get that research back, it can be quite impressive how much money and time was saved, and that’s savings for you. It can be savings for your client if you are passing along those savings to your clients.

Conclusion

So I am a big fan of outsourcing to the Philippines and plan to do it much more as we grow in the future. And if you are looking for more best practices and tips, and suggestions for technology, check out the podcast or YouTube channel from OnlineJobs.ph. John Jonas does a great job of helping you become comfortable with how easy this can be. And once you get over some of those initial fears and roadblocks, you will experience the rewards of having high-quality people working on your team without taking up office space and all the other downsides of having to maintain a large physical office for a team of people.

If you haven’t yet received the Seven Common Legal Mistakes Made by New Businesses, it’s a free handout I have. You can get it at aaronhall.com/free. I will also send more educational videos to you that are not publicly available. If you want to go there and sign up, there’s no charge. If you have questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. I will use those questions to raise topics for future videos. If this was helpful, happy to have a thumbs up, and if it wasn’t helpful, go ahead and put a thumbs down. Let’s be honest here. It may not be helpful to a lot of people. I appreciate any rating, whatever it is, that provides me helpful feedback to improve. My goal is to help provide more educational content to you as you are growing a company or preparing to grow a company so that you avoid common pitfalls and can establish a company that flourishes and empowers the people that work on your team.

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