Filipinos see pathway from poverty with virtual assistant jobs

The Manila Times

Filipinos see pathway from poverty with virtual assistant jobs  Nathalie Mago's work day begins after she's tucked her three daughters into bed and flicked off the lights in their house north of the Philippine capital Manila. As her young family sleeps, she fires up her laptop and begins discussing the day's agenda with her boss -- an American half a world away. A 'virtual assistant,' Mago is one of a growing number of Filipinos flocking to the booming but unregulated sector in the face of a tight job market, low wages and frequently hellish commutes.  AFP VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #worldnews  #filipino  #virtualassistant

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00:00Thinking of becoming a virtual assistant, but you feel a little overwhelmed and intimidated.

00:05A virtual assistant is like a right-hand person for a business or for a founder.

00:11So for example, you are a virtual assistant for a founder, but you do many things.

00:17You are doing marketing work, operations work, absolutely anything they don't want to handle anymore.

00:23I think there's a lot of potential.

00:25Additionally, all people, even in rural areas, they don't have to go to Manila to work.

00:33They can just work at home.

00:35They can be with their family.

00:38They can stay in their province that they love.

00:43Being a virtual assistant saved me because if it wasn't for being a virtual assistant,

00:49I probably wouldn't have finished my studies or help my family, send them to school.

00:55If you were chased by a client, you have no one to chase.

00:59So if they decide that they won't pay you anymore or they just blocked you,

01:05there's really no way for you to protect yourself.

01:09So what we do is that, personally, I ask for advance payment.

01:13The fact that they do not fall within any other classification of the government,

01:18also says that there's very little protection for them.

01:22Because once their rights, they feel that their rights are violated,

01:26they will have no agency to go to because, again, they do not fall under any of the classifications.

01:32It's risky because there's no remedy involved,

01:35but people are, I think, willing to take that risk

01:39because of the rewards that they can reap in exchange for the work that they do within their own homes.

01:46So these are the OFWs in the UAE.

01:49So across the UAE, there are people from Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, there they are.

01:54Whatever she has learned through her experiences,

01:56my aha moment for this one is,

01:59I can do my skillset as a freelancer.

02:04So to those who aspire to be like us,

02:08let's just start with talking.

02:11And start doing.

02:12Yes, thank you, Ate!

02:14My friends who are OFWs,

02:16how is that, Lee?

02:17How is that? How is that? How is that?

02:19I got intrigued.

02:21A lot of people were curious.

02:23Why don't I just teach them how I did it?

02:27My journey, how I did it.

02:29So that's where it started.

02:31I created a community there in Dubai,

02:34and I teach them every time I go home there.

02:37I really want Filipinos to go home,

02:40that's why I created that community.

02:42So when I teach them,

02:44at least one Filipino at a time,

02:46that's my tagline,

02:48that's my mission.

02:50So that even one Filipino can go home at a time.

02:54I'm just passing on my brain,

02:56how I built my digital agency,

03:00or digital business.

03:02If you're a professional, why not use that skill,

03:04and then do it remotely?

03:06That's going to be your own business.

03:10So those kinds of wisdom and advice,

03:12I'm doing it through this little community.

03:14I'm hoping that more people will answer and get to know me.

03:18When I saw that opportunity,

03:20or when I tried it myself,

03:22I said, there's a way

03:24so that I can be with my family.

03:26I can earn more,

03:28times two, times three, times four,

03:30sometimes times five,

03:32the income,

03:34compared to what I earn

03:36in UAE.

03:38Go back to one of the major challenges,

03:40Filipino laws do not apply

03:42if the employer is located elsewhere.

03:44Those are challenges that need to be addressed.

03:48Probably via,

03:50there are a lot of ways I can think of,

03:52a memorandum of cooperation,

03:54or a memorandum of agreement

03:56in certain countries when it comes to virtual assistants.

04:00International ICT communities

04:02stepping in, in order to protect the industry.

04:04So those are probably

04:06what we should expect

04:08in the near future.

04:10What we need is,

04:12again, I think the peculiar fact

04:14that it is borderless,

04:16that is something we should address.

04:18And I think the only way to address that is

04:20allied nations

04:22and like-minded countries

04:24come together

04:26to protect certain industries

04:28that in this particular day and age

04:30are already borderless.

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