[zhivota]

I read it as them looking for people who can read, write, and converse in English. And that even with many technical graduates, they could only hire 3 out of every 100 that came into the office just to do those tasks.

Besides that, I know from living in the Philippines for six months that a call center job can be like striking gold for people who came up poor. Poverty here is so much different from poverty in the US that it's hard for Americans to understand the motivation of people here. A call center job may suck, but it could be the difference between life in a slum without basic sewerage, and eating at western chain restaurants while texting your friends on your new smart phone. What's basically a birthright in the US is highly prized here.

[wyclif]

Very true about the Philippines. However, a crucial difference is that most educated Filipinos have very good English language skills compared to many other SE Asian countries I've been to.