Just Helping A Poor VA Out...

It's just my opinion at the end of the day.

I'm sorry, but I wasn't aware of the average national income of the Philippines. When you put it into context like that, I suppose it's not too bad compared to other professions. But the OP still says she's starving and struggling to feed her family. I guess the OP was just trying to help her out.

The point is she is living a destitute Life and in dire circumstances from what I gather. What other people make surrounding her is to some point irrevelant. If someone is making a boatload of Money off someone elses work then that person doing the work should at least be paid accordingly. And it does NOT have anything to do with what people around her are getting.
This kind of mindset really irks me and it is cop out attitude. Also a greedy one at that. Yes this is exploitation, IMO !!
Pay the women according to how much she produces for you on a fair and equitable basis. Your making the cheese so why not share a small portion of it for someone who deserves it.


I agree its hard for me to take the OP seriously. And is he really feeling sorry for her by paying $50 a week for 40 hours work ??

Thats ridicolous by anyone's freaking standard !!
It reminds me of indentured slavery !!!

Just want to correct this erroneous statement which can be mistaken for a fact. Entry level nurses here in Manila, fresh graduates, are currently paid $265/month (@ Php45 per $1). In the provinces, it's $220/month, due to lower cost of living but not necessarily lower living standards if I may say. That's for 8 hours/day 5 days/week 20 work days/month. They're given health benefits, housing loans, social security insurance, employee insurance, training, seminars, allowances for seminars and conferences, etc. Nurses with more than 2 years experience are on the other hand paid $400/month, with all those benefits. I think you're talking about nurses who volunteer to go to medical missions in the provinces and depressed urban communities -- these are children of affluent families here, and most of them seek political careers as their main long term objective, so that drives them to do this --- they have enough money from their parents anyway. Now in most developed countries, ICT professionals are paid much higher than nurses.

Wrong again. Informally employed construction workers, those who work after a few months of apprenticeship, without the proper safety equipment and tools, are paid, on a subcontractual arrangement here, $9/day. Meals and lodging are provided free during the term of the subcontract, and allowances are given regularly. The main thing why this is a low paying job = a lot, and I mean a lot, of people can do this here. That's not the same thing with ICT (Information & Communications Technology) skills, knowledge and experience, more so if coupled with proficient English communication skills as well as high levels of comprehension and analytical capabilities. Construction workers formally employed by private construction firms and government offices here are on the other hand paid $300/month, entry level.

Wrong again. You're referring to salespeople who work via a commission per sale arrangement with daily allowance, and they're given $150 monthly allowance and a 10% commission per sale on products and contracts worth $1000 and above, in which average sales of a diligent salesperson per month = $5000. Offshore telemarketers here are on the other hand paid $370/month and given high commissions per sale, incentives/rewards for exceptional work, employee insurance, benefits like social security insurance, housing loans from the gov't, health insurance, and company emergency loans, and that's entry level.

Reckon here's something to think about: You can hire 5 professionals here with the same skills, proficiency, knowledge and experience here for the price of 1 professional in the West, though each professional here will live off from double minimum wage salary, which, even if it's double minimum wages, would still mean you either need a spouse working for the same wages as yours, or for you to have 2 to 3 double minimum wage jobs, for a family of 4. Well anyway, I think a professional in the West paid 5 times the professional monthly wages of people here (double minimum wages) would still need to either have a spouse working a full time shift, or have 2 to 3 jobs now, wouldn't they, for a family of four, with the only thing different = government and private banking industry support?

He's not forcing her to take the work. She could say "no" to $50 per week.

And, what's stopping her from setting up her own websites, creating her own content, building her own backlinks, and so on? Is it because she prefers to make a guaranteed $50 per week as opposed to risking making more or nothing at all?

Aside from that, if he pays her what would be standard wages in his country, then why would he bother outsourcing at all? He could hire someone locally. Then, the woman in the Philippines would have not had that opportunity. She'd be making $0 per week instead of the $50 per week he was paying her.

I'm not sure how denying opportunities to third world countries is going to promote prosperity.

There are a ton of 3rd world countries that would love to have foreigners employ them for $200 usd a month because that would in most cases equal a great wage where they're at. You obviously fail to grasp what $50 for 40 hours of work is in their local currency and how it can impact their life.

People outsource to 3rd world countries for this reason. Its currency arbitrage. If employers had to pay 3rd world workers significantly higher wages, they would stop and just keep employing people in their own damn country. The employer nets less money, the outsourced worker losses a job and nobody really wins.

This is nothing new or groundbreaking either. Business don't pay employees based on the intrinsic value they bring to the company. They pay a fair wage based on the job description, cost of living and other employment in that area. I worked for one of the top banks in Canada and we were expected to do $4 million in mutual fund sales a year. How much did we make? $45k per annum which was standard for that entry level position amongst many banks. Are you suggesting that I be paid what I was worth in this case? I didn't think so.

Let's use rice instead, the Filipino staple. We wouldn't want our children eating Big Macs, fries, sundaes and the like day in day out, after all

2 Big Macs, Php204, can feed a Western national for around 8 hours or 2 meals. 2.5 kilos of rice, which costs around Php110, plus great seafood like tilapia and bangus, around Php120 per kilo, can feed 1 Filipino for 12 hours or 3 full meals. That means $5 can buy 1 Filipino food for the day, but not a Western national, for he'd need $7 just to eat 3 Big Macs. That means nutritious food is cheaper here However, average minimum wage in the West is $12/hour, and here: it's $1.50/hour.So, how much is nutritious food in the West? Say around $70 for 3 full meals, for one person? Then, the Western national earning minimum wage needs to just work 6 hours per day and an additional 6 hours for other expenses. The Filipino minimum wage earner should on the other hand work just 3 hours for 3 meals, for 1 person, and 6 hours more for other expenses.

I agree
Kudos to you Adam for wanting to help her out

Kim