Infosys BPO: Delayed Calamity funds finally given
By Juan Dela Cruz

Hundreds of Infosys BPO’s employees in the Philippines are smiling from ear to ear as their company has finally delivered on its promise of providing 5,000 pesos (equal to the same amount in rupees) as its generous financial assistance to those employees severely affected by tropical storm Ketsana back in October 26.

The Philippines was in the international media spotlight after its capital Metro Manila temporarily became the mythical city of Atlantis after experiencing several punishing hours of heavy rains on that day. Eighty percent of the whole capital became flooded. Main roads were impassable and property damage amounted to millions. This storm, which was eventually considered the worst in the country’s recorded history, forced the President to put Manila under a state of calamity for the first time. Many businesses were put to a halt but fortunately it had little to no effect on the operations of BPOs in the country. Though it was business as usual for the hundreds of BPOs operating in Metro Manila that day, many of their employees living in the severely damaged areas were not able to come to work as well as those whose access to their workplace were cut-off because of the floods. Those who were able to come to work were made to stay for extended periods (on some reported occasions up to 24 hours) to cover shifts of those who could not. 

Sadly, more than 73 people died and 300 thousand were displaced by this unusual weather phenomenon.

It is safe to say that more than half of the BPO worker population was affected so a handful of companies devised plans to help their employees recover from this calamity. It is of interest that Infosys is the only BPO to have extended such kind assistance to its employees even if it came 2 months after the actually calamity. My source tells me they have been waiting for this 5,000 pesos financial assistance since early November but it only got credited to them this Monday, Dec 14, 2009. The same source tells me that this calamity fund is not a loan from Infosys but simply a grant for those who needed to get their houses repaired or for any other repairs to property damaged by the heavy storm.

It is truly a happy time for those who have signed a waiver as proof they were directly affected by this storm but not everybody in Infosys is sharing the joy. Some who did not get affected will not receive a single cent from Infosys because they didn’t need any. My source tells me moans and groans can be heard all over the floor because some think this seems unfair. It looks as though those who weren’t able to work for several days because of the storm were getting bonuses, while those who battled heavy rains and walked through flooded streets to come to work are getting nothing in return for their noble gesture.

For now at least some people are happy in Infosys. For the past few months many of its Filipino employees have become disillusioned by their low salaries and Infosys’ uncompetitive employee incentives. At least some Filipino Infosys employees have another reason to smile for this holiday season. I wonder if their Indian counterparts get such privilege if presented with the same predicament.

(Techgoss had published the following on Nov 19, 2009)

Infosys Philippines BPO: low salaries
By Juan Dela Cruz

I’m surprised with the negative feedback I get from Infosys Philippines employees. While the rest of Indian BPO’s in the Philippines generously offer huge salaries, Infosys has become a poster child of cheapness. When Indian giants like GENPACT and IBM-Daksh were first establishing themselves in Philippines, they offered record compensation.

Genpact and Daksh offered inflated salaries and huge bonuses as part of a strategy to attract the best possible talent. This began the upward trend of burgeoning salaries that have attracted more and more people to the BPO industry. GENPACT attracted agents from HSBC by topping their salaries of 18,000 pesos more than 2 years ago. IBM-Daksh has been equally generous to experienced employees offering above 20K starting salary plus 50,000 sign-on bonuses. WNS is reputed to be very selective in their agent hiring but also offers generous starting salaries. Infosys meanwhile seems to be stuck in 2003 by offering a measly 12,500 pesos starting salary. The peso is on parity with the Indian rupee.

This has been the feedback from current employees of Infosys BPO Philippines. They say apart from this laughable salary, the benefits and perks are way below Philippine call center standards as well. Their contract includes allowance of 1,500 which is way below almost 4,000 my friend’s wife used to get from HSBC 3 years ago. Infosys offers a night differential pegged at 15% for all employees which is only half of what a friend received in Etelecare back in 2003. Infosys does offer medical coverage benefit to a maximum of 50,000 pesos. However, this does not even come close to what my friend’s wife is getting from her lowly call center employer where she gets a maximum 150,000 pesos maximum coverage.

Moreover, feedback about other experiences from current employees of Infosys Philippines screams of hellish nightmare. Two months ago, employees were told there would be no salary increases for this year even if it is black and white in anybody’s employment contract especially for those hired March 2008 who were promised an increase for this year. For the lucky ones who were able to get salary increases in the past, they had to make do with a measly 500 pesos increment because Infosys does not have an attractive salary increase matrix. Their agents have to deal with sharing of office and phone equipment and risk health hazards. Restrictive policies also don’t allow their employees much freedom to enjoy their stay in Infosys. A few also complain about poor records keeping evident by the fact that their HR people could not locate their employees’ records on demand. A lot of them have regretted joining Infosys when they could have joined another company for same work but better pay and experience. Even with an admirable company profile, according to my sources these days the Infosys’ branch in the Philippines is more likely to lose the employees have than attract new ones.

(Email me news and tips at 1delacruise dot gmail dot com)