The pandemic brought about a dynamic shift in the work environment in the Philippines and across the globe, in the Philippines and the rest of the world. Companies were forced to adapt to a remote work environment with some not being ready for this change and with a lot of employees facing challenges in adapting to this style of working remotely. 3 years later and with the changes that the pandemic brought about still being adapted in a hybrid working environment, these issues that workers face are still present here in the Philippines. Here are some of the issues and the solutions that we have found for them:
The top issue that people face here in the Philippines is the slow internet connection brought about by the infrastructure that our network providers have. The Internet has been a problem that the population has been facing, with it being an accepted reality that the Philippines is the most ‘internet poor’ in Southeast Asia according to an article from the Business World. It’s a major hindrance to employees being able to deliver their work and connect with the rest of the team. A lot of Filipino remote workers have opted to work at coffee shops or co working spaces, with one example being the From Here co-working space in Cebu.
Another major issue that employees face here in the Philippines is the financial issue of acquiring the proper setup for remote work. What’s a proper work-from-home setup? A laptop, a stable internet connection, a desk, and a chair, and how much would that cost you? A rough estimate of at least 50,000 PHP to start with, and this is just assuming you are doing normal office work and when other more specialized equipment is needed the cost would skyrocket even further. With the average Filipino in the lower to middle class making around 15,000 PHP to 40,000 PHP, that investment for a proper work-from-home setup, just isn’t viable with all the other expenses the average person has to spend.
What’s the last and a common problem that is prevalent among remote workers especially here in the Philippines? The lack of boundaries between work and personal life, with your work life now being in the same four corners as your personal or family life, how hard can it be to not mix these two in? Especially with Filipinos being such family-oriented people, it’s hard not to attend to concerns in the house while doing work for your company, further distracting the employee from completing the task at hand.
What are the solutions to these different problems? Have we found the solutions to these problems now that we have either been working from home for 3 years or doing a hybrid setup? Here are some of the different solutions that we have found. First of all, invest in two backup internet connections, having two can be a lifesaver for when one goes down the other is available to use. Well, having two internet connections can be expensive, which goes back to the second issue that we pointed out right? To cut down on cost, have a stable internet provider set up at your house and the backup being your phone’s mobile hotspot, with mobile data plans becoming cheaper and cheaper by the day. It’s all about finding creative solutions, which goes to our third issue we pointed out, How do we deal with that? Find a permanent place to do remote work from and not a coffee shop where your seats aren’t ensured, but find a co-working space like From Here Cebu as an example.
