Citi Group has recently appointed ex Time-Warner CEO Richard Parsons as its new chairman. Parsons is a known “corporate undertaker”. He gets invited into boards to oversee slow deaths in the corporate world. His talent lies not in turning around the fortunes of a business but in overseeing and — whenever possible — prolonging its demise.
As such, there is intense speculation that Citi Group is on its deathbed. That spells trouble for the more than 4,000 employees in its Philippine operations where it is the biggest foreign banking presence.
Recently, American Express in the wake of a 79% decline in earnings reported in the fourth quarter has announced closure of its call centre in North Dakota citing the simple fact that there is “not enough work” for the 46 positions affected there. As early as October AmEx had already announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs. AmEx makes use of agencies to employ its call center personnel overseas, so it is unlikely that Pinoy jobs are included in that purge.
But then who knows? Ask the “experts”. :D
Some bozo named Bo Sanchez once crowed that “the CALL CENTER industry is a gift to our country”, on top of that other “gift” (overseas work) this is “another industry that will bless the Philippines with another $10B”.
Indeed they are. Like most “gifts” it was easy coming. Guess what? Now it’s easy goin’. And like most “blessings” they are granted by a higher power.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, nga naman.
Hey, look! I just summarised in a one-liner (above) all of Philippine history. Galing ba?
So note the words in boldface (formatting on the quote added by moi by the way).
:D Gift
:D Blessing
Both words are indicative of our regard for what sustains us as a people. Everything we enjoy is a “gift” or a “blessing” — very little to do with a conscious effort on our part to develop. Apparently, in the Philippines, things just happen just like the proverbial guava.
So yes, America’s suffering is, indeed, of their own doing. And I say, at least it was. They can take accountability for it.
In the Philippines, on the other hand, things just happen. Nothing because of our own doing or fault. There is nothing to be accountable for because we have never been in control of our destinies in the first place. We just simply are exposed to the vicissitudes that accompany the planet’s journey across space and time. Times were good because there was investment and foreign employment, and now times are bad because investment and foreign employment are gone.
We may as well do what we do best — pray for employment. But here’s a more innovative idea that is aligned with our pre-colonial heritage (for the Joey Ayala fans out there) — just as our ancestors used to do some kind of planting season dance festival so that the gods may grant them a bountiful harvest, maybe we can do some kind of ocho-ocho festival so that the gods may grant us bountiful employment in the coming months.
Who says I don’t come up with solutions that befit our culture? :D
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More nonsense from the Eddie Gil of the blogging world.
Any schmoe with half a brain can dismiss anything he/she does not understand as mere “non-sense”.
What separates the men from the boys is the ability to articulate in coherent terms exactly why one thinks something is non-sense. ;)
can you link to any article/commentary about parsons saying why he’s called the undertaker? from several articles in newsweek and FT, he’s highly respected. also, if its about time warner-AOL merger, that’s not perceived to be his fault — that case’s fault, then head of AOL. also, he wasn’t CEO of time warner at the time.
i mean, other than the link u’ve already provided.
also, this is a global recession, so i don’t get ur point. are you against global trade now?
Very recently in Australia, prayers were said in Anglican churches begging for rain. The Heavens obliged abundantly.
Things also just happen in our great southern land, mate.
We hear that in Australia, the jobs crisis has hit hard. Now was that the fault of Johnnie Howard or Kevin Rudd?
Do you think that Australians have no accountability in the crisis since Kevin Rudd can’t do much about it?
Now should Australians pray for jobs to fall out of the sky? Australians have a particular sense of humour. Anyone who has some bit of larrikinism knows what that is all about.
Filipinos take accountability for their problems since they have to live with there on their own land.
Let me be fair dinkum mate. May an emu kick your dunny door down!
Narrative fallacy, dude.
Just because a bunch of people prayed, and then an event happens to transpire that is apparently related to said prayer does not necessarily mean that the prayer caused said event.
Fortunately for Sanchez, he has since seen the light and has been promoting entrepreneurship as a “means to spread God’s blessings” among other things. Personally I just like it that he’s teaching the “cow”tholics in the country that:
a.) being rich will not bring you to hell, as being poor won’t get you to heaven
b.) your prosperity is more about your actions than God’s
And that, coming from a bozo, is a good thing, I think.
The main thing about dialectics is the fact that one has to bring forth a premise that has some basis.
But when one comes up with totally distorted statements which he passes off as fact then it is wise to avoid engagement. Nonsense requires no antithesis.
It is like Ermita and those jokers at the Palace saying that GMA can advise the world on her economic expertise.
The WEF started yesterday with the heavy hitters setting down the tone of this years meetings. Governments are now the flavor of the season.
bO you have a lot of chutzpah but you are banging mostly on an empty drum.
No free lessons.
Suit yourself, dude.
Remember how the Copernican cosmos didn’t make sense to the 16th Century mind…
I’d rather beat on drums that ring hollow (but loudly) than on drums weighed down by the “insight” of pop-”experts” as to emit no more than a dull thud. :D
benigs
what can you say you regarding that pinoy in OZ who got fired because he used tabo at tubig instead of toilet paper.
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Now on prayers.
At least prayers will prevent you from killing your whole family.(or at least can help in prevention)
This news about that laid off employee of Pfizer as a result of pfizer’s merger with Wyatt.
That guy killed his whole family before killing himself.
I will expect a loser mentality quip from you
but even billionaires commit suicide.
wyeth pala di wyatt
Nalito yata ako magkasunod ang news sa tv ng merger of the two pharmas at ng murder suicide.
I checked the web Hospital worker pala ang pumatay sa pamilya tapos nag suicide.
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Well, it just shows that Filipinos are just too fatalistic. Too fatalistic that they forget the latter part of “Nasa Diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa”.
Though I’m not a Bo Sanchez follower, I like his way of teaching entrepreneurship in the context of religion. It’s not wrong to get rich which is a stark contrast from Catholic teachings.