It’s 2013, and yet I still feel the tension and pain from reading posts on the oDesk community forums.
I happen to drop by the Clients section for some research on client perspectives on online work.
A couple of titles were intriguing. “Contractor Sending Insults – What to do?“, “Philippine employers,” and the occasional “You Get What You Pay For.”
But this. This is what made me wince on my way out the door:
It’s entitled, “Would You Hire a Department Head from the Philippines?”
How someone could make such deragatory claims about a nationality is beyond me.
To continue hiring said nationality because they are from a “lower cost country” doesn’t surprise me one bit.
It’s as if awareness of people’s sensitivities is non-existent and globalization is a concept still shrouded in a black void.
Now, there are always different sides to a story, so it’s unfair to judge this person immediately for his intentions of asking such a question.
Ashan D. may have experienced some hiccups in his business that cost him thousands, and he’s now being “careful” by asking a virtual, global forum for advice for this kind of problem.
It could be that the person he has hired for work has screwed him up. He may deserve a little sympathy from the audience.
But to go about it by inflicting unfair judgment and racist preconceptions? Where is the civility in that?
Racism and How to Handle It
Racism has gone up a level at this point.
It is no longer an issue between the West and the East. It isn’t anymore just an area of debate between the white man and the colored man.
From what I can see from this thread, anybody can speak unfairly about another person, regardless of geographical and cultural backgrounds.
The question now is how to deal with poor judgment on a global platform like oDesk.com. And I’m pretty sure it thrives just about anywhere where nationalities all over the world interact.
- Calmness – remaining professional, removing one’s own tendencies to throw the same brick at the person. It is in being calm and professional about the problem that we refuse to feed the fire and lower ourselves to that level.
- Critical thinking – to debate and argue using relevant and thorough reasoning, to question the grounds of the claim and get to the root of the problem. Fighting back by hurting Ashan D.’s nationality does not solve anything. To argue that s/he should not hire based on price and country, rather on the expertise of the person, and the benefits that come with it, is the ideal way to address the issue.
- Assertiveness – to believe in your self, to stand firm and confident to what you think is right. This is important, because you have the tools to do this. You have the freedom to express your convictions.
Think of Aung San Suu Kyi and how the movie The Lady (2011) portrayed her near-death scene where she was about to be shot point blank by a military official.
She remains calm, reminding her comrades not to fight back with violence, and asserts herself by walking towards her enemy. She does not back down nor does she use violence to fight back.
We must deal with the problems of our reputation in the same manner as Suu Kyi did. We handle it with confidence in the errors of such judgment, correct those who assume us to be this way, and reflect our beliefs in our everyday lives.
It Takes Two to Tango
As I’ve said before, there are different sides to every story, two sides to an argument.
In this case, it is a notion about contractors from the Philippines and Asia as a whole.
If we want to stop clients from thinking that we are willing to work for cheap, we have to act out our ideals.
This is not to say that bidding low rates in order to get that first gig is wrong. Everyone starts their journey to success at rock bottom.
The question is, will you take steps to get out of the bottom? Or are you satisfied with servicing clients at $0.50/hour?
You have to climb up that ladder. Move forward.
This is the premise of one of my older posts, “The Surefire Way to Stopping Those Nasty $1/Hour Jobs.” For clients to start realizing that they get what they pay for, we have to assert ourselves when dealing with prices for our services.
In short, we charge better and more reasonable rates. These rates are based on your skills, how confident you are in them, and the value of your knowledge and expertise.
If clients don’t respect your decisions and the role you play in your business, they may not be good people to work with.
Give them every reason to want to work with you. Show them that you have the knowledge, the creativity, and the capabilities of doing great things. Then racism may not be as prevalent as it still is today.
What do you think?
Photo credits: cinematoria and borkur.net
About the Author: Stef G.
Founder of The Freelance Pinoy, Stef is a freelance copywriter and blogger who loves writing great content and helping fellow freelancers in their journeys toward success. You can follow her on Twitter @stefgonzaga. Related Posts
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I try as much as possible not to be offended by these racist remarks. It’s not that I don’t care, I just don’t think it’s worth the trouble. They obviously either didn’t have a good experience or they haven’t met the right contractors yet. The fault (for lack of a better word) could be from both sides:
Clients: generalization, always looking for cheap contractors
Contractors: offering ridiculously low rates just to get the job
How do I deal with them? I just ignore them and move on to the next client. There are a lot of odesk clients who are satisfied with Filipinos. A few racist remarks shouldn’t affect us. What we should just do is excel in our own fields and let that do the talking. Our satisfied clients will eventually speak on our behalf in the form of positive feedback.
Thanks, Gerson. That’s another good way to address the issue: to let our good work speak for themselves. I’m sure not all clients think this way, and that’s a sign of hope for the global economy and community.
At the end of the day, it’s our firm belief in our capabilities that will help us triumph over these unfair remarks.
The guy’s a complete moron. His name suggest he’s either Indian or Pakistani. Two countries we’re beating in the BPO industry and they’re pissed off.
It could be.
I love this post, Stef. I have once had a client who sent me the wrong email, saying that she can beat down Filipino writers’ rates, simply because SHE CAN. Needless to say, I stopped working for her as soon as possible. There are some online clients who only want to hire virtual workers (from any country) at the lowest possible rates, and THEN complain that they are not getting their money’s worth. I think they are getting exactly what they pay for. If they want quality output, they should recognize and accept the fact that many virtual workers are worth more than the lowest possible rates.
That’s always the case, isn’t it? They hire for cheap, they get cheap work, and they complain about it. What’s ironic is that when you hire bad quality online workers, you lose more time and money that way.
That’s the problem with most clients. When they think of the word OUTSOURCING, they think CHEAP.
In a way, it is but it doesn’t mean TOO CHEAP!!! I don’t really understand why people are so cheap when it comes to money.. If they want QUALITY SERVICE/WORK they need to compensate people well.
I read the forum posts and damn LINDA A sickens me. Yes, businesses aim to profit but it doesn’t mean at the cost of the people they work with.
It makes me so sad that there are people out there who think that GETTING RICH will solve all their problems. Life isn’t all about money and getting rich, it’s about enriching other peoples lives, knowing that you have helped a single souls life become better.
I wish she sees her faults.
(posting this on my social bookmarking site
) awesome read!!!
Yes, yes, and yes. I’ve always been against a life driven by money, so your comment hits home for me.
Thank you, Zion, and please do share this post to your networks. In writing this post, I hope to give freelancers a chance to voice their thoughts and concerns about the topic.
This post made me remember a client who thought he was being generous with my monthly retainer when it is actually the opposite. (Good Lord, he thinks that $5/article is the going rate for Filipino writers.) It is so disappointing when you meet people who treat you based on which region you came from regardless of your skills. But you said it yourself, it’s a *global* workplace so we are bound to encounter some rather unpleasant characters along the way. (They make for interesting stories, too! Hi Ninang Weng!)
I can see the point of that guy over there who mentioned that our education system does not exactly encourage creativity. But his sweeping statement on how you cannot rely on Filipinos to be creative just makes me sick. There are in fact a lot of creative Filipinos and he just made himself look like a moron for saying that. Race has nothing to do with it and I’m glad not all buyers think like that person.
By the way, great work on the post. You definitely showed calmness, assertiveness, and constructive criticism. We should all follow your example.
Thank you, Naomi! Reading the post, I may have sounded a little less calm than I would expect of myself. But nonetheless, something had to be said about the issue.
Man, that client must have pushed your buttons when he said that. And yes, it sickens me as well when clients assume that Filipinos or any other nationality besides their own are willing to work for cheap. This is why Petra R.’s comment is the best argument for this case: you charge these rates because you can, regardless if you’re living in a country like the Philippines or in Europe. Your skills and the quality of your work speaks for themselves.
That post from Ashan D. is a proof that some clients are just “barat”.
I feel sorry for the people around Joe. If he thinks that way, how do you think he treats his Filipino wife? Or the pinoys around him in Iloilo? I have learned to ignore racists like him. They’ve been in oDesk 3 years ago when I joined, and they will always be there.
3 years? My, I have missed a lot since I left the forums for good two years ago.
I don’t want to get tangled up with Joe and other racist people on these sites, but when they start stepping on other people’s toes, someone has got to stand up to them.