Call centre agents smoke cigarettes on their break from work in Eastwood City, a BPO-targeted area of Manila, Philippines. Export-orientated companies are offered tax breaks and incentives by establishing business in Eastwood City Cyberpark, which is listed under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as an approved IT Centre. 

Call centre workers Athena, Ron and Mina eat McDonalds together in Eastwood City, Philippines, after working the night shift. 

Ron explains, “They’re so far away from us they can’t touch us, they can just complain and complain.  They talk so much, they say bad words but we can’t get angry.  We must empathise.  We must make them calm, we are going to do what we can.”

A call centre worker works into the early morning at Pinoy Partners Outsourcing Center in Makati City, Philippines. Some employees have mirrors on their desks which reminds them to smile whilst talking to customers.

Call centre workers of Acquire Asia Pacific in Eastwood City, Philippines, take a yoga class in the office, instructed by Mallet Gamez, an employee who brought his his extra curricular interest to share with fellow employees for relaxation.

Clocks on the wall remind employees of the time they are working on across the other side of the world. A worker at Staff Virtual, an outsourcing company in Makati City, Philippines, trawls through information and records late at night for customers in North America.

A man sleeps at a convenience stall early in the morning in Ortigas, a BPO and call centre hub in Manila, Philippines. Workers adjust their body clock to parallel that of the country they service.

A call centre worker stretches as he works early into the morning at Staff Virtual in Makati City, Philippines.

Employees of Acquire Asia Pacific, an outsourcing company in Eastwood City, Philippines, celebrate Halloween and eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts on their lunch break.

In Eastwood City, a BPO hub of in Manila, a monument stands paying homage to call centre workers of the Philippines. The statues wear bronze headsets and carry briefcases. The statues have no face.

Employees of American owned Johnny Rockets in Eastwood City dance near the entrance of the restaurant attempting to draw customers from the street.

Eastwood City Mall is a lucrative business opportunity for foreign owned food chains and retail outlets that are frequented by well to do call centre agents with disposable income.

Mau, a call centre agent who handles customer enquiries for Australian company Minimovers, celebrated her birthday with colleagues at work. After blowing out the candle she began crying as it was the first birthday cake she had ever received. 

Many outsourcing companies in the Philippines run programs to employ people from underprivileged communities. They are given 6 months intensive training in literacy, language and typing skills. Many have never used a computer.

Call centre workers of American owned Pinoy Partners Outsourcing Centre in Makati City, Philippines, on their lunch break early in the morning.

Entry-level call operators can earn between P10,000 and P14,500 per month (equivalent to US$300.00 to US$360.00), excluding bonuses, allowances and incentives.

Call centre workers of Pinoy Partners Outsourcing Centre in Makati City, Philippines, work late into the night and early into the morning for American clients.

Call centre workers sing at a local karaoke bar, early morning after work in Eastwood City, Philippines. Employees typically form friendship groups around their jobs as most of the population sleeps as they socialise.

"I don't have a love life, it's a joke in the office. It's because I work too hard," explains Jake, between songs.

A call centre agent sleeps on his break from work at Pinoy Partners Outsourcing Center in Makati City, Philippines. Call centres have sleeping quarters that employees can utilise throughout their shift, and also during typhoons and natural disaster.