Contract in Manila - Philippines - Anyone with Experience? Rate etc

[gaz0001]

Hi,

I have to have a chat about rate on Sunday.

Anyone have any idea what a decent monthly or daily rate is over there in Manila.

Plus, information work ethic.??
I've been lucky enough to work in countries where it's just 9-5 and no night work or weekend work.

I'd hate to land in a country it's expected to work 10hour days 6 day weeks. (I work to live, not live to work)

Any stories or shared experiences there are appreciated.

Cheers

[BrilloPad]

Ask MF - he had a contract as a LadyBoy out there.

I am so pleased this thread is in general.

[BolshieBastard]

Hi,

I have to have a chat about rate on Sunday.

Anyone have any idea what a decent monthly or daily rate is over there in Manila.

Plus, information work ethic.??
I've been lucky enough to work in countries where it's just 9-5 and no night work or weekend work.

I'd hate to land in a country it's expected to work 10hour days 6 day weeks. (I work to live, not live to work)

Any stories or shared experiences there are appreciated.

Cheers

Four words, long hours, low pay.

IME of working with teams in the Philippines, they are friendly people, some speak good english, some not so good. Work ethic is very high in IT but they are expected (again IME) from 9am to 11pm. Paywise, local IT workers are paid more than other office workers but you're talking sub £200 a day tops in comparison to the UK.

I know one team of guys who were shipped over by accenture and were being made to work 8.30am to 2am next day regularly on the client site while based over here. That is until the end client got to find out and went apetulip at the treatment. Accenture had to remove their 'overseer' from the project to placate the client.

Oh, they do get sent home frequently if there's a tropical storm or hurricane blowing through the locale.

[DodgyAgent]

Don't forget to take penisillin with you

[mudskipper]

Don't forget to take penisillin with you

Is that special penicillin to stop your little man dropping off when you get the clap?

[TheFaQQer]

Hi,

I have to have a chat about rate on Sunday.

Anyone have any idea what a decent monthly or daily rate is over there in Manila.

Plus, information work ethic.??
I've been lucky enough to work in countries where it's just 9-5 and no night work or weekend work.

I'd hate to land in a country it's expected to work 10hour days 6 day weeks. (I work to live, not live to work)

Any stories or shared experiences there are appreciated.

Cheers

I'd want all expenses covered, business class flights every so often, maybe some danger money and to be in a decent hotel. My client has an office there and I've been out for a couple of weeks before working from home - the Americans that I work with refuse to go because it can be dangerous in the wrong areas. If they are going to find you an apartment, then you need to check the location and how you are going to get from there to work - I used to walk out of the hotel and grab a taxi down the road.

Hotels - ideally the Peninsula. Maybe the Shang-ri-la if necessary (but it's full of Russian mafia and not so subtle hookers) - it's a bit bling for my tastes. There is a new decent hotel nearby but the name escapes me.

Work ethic is going to depend on what kind of thing you are doing - I was visiting a call centre that worked 24 hours a day. I would stroll in about 10-1030 and leave about 7 or 8pm (maybe later) - that gave me access to the UK when I needed it as well, but the permies there were all on shifts to cover the 24 hours. Nothing too Draconian though. Some would work harder than others - two from our team were let go over the past year because they were getting lazy because they thought they could get away with it. But nothing out of the ordinary there really. The people I worked with are lovely, though - they know how you must be earning a lot more than them, but they know they are doing much better than many people around them so there's no jealousy.

Traffic is a nightmare - close your eyes and rely on the taxi driver not getting hit! One day a week people can't use their cars (depending on the number on their numberplate) - makes no difference to the traffic though.

You also want to time the trips so that you avoid the typhoon season as much as you can - I was there in September / October time and a supertyphoon was imminent but missed us. Fairly often the staff can't get into the office because of the weather - they live a way out of Manila / Makhati so if the weather is bad it's hard for them.

I wouldn't want to be out there for a long stint, though - a couple of weeks was fine for me before coming back to the UK. Depending on where you are based, there's a decent flight with Emirates, Etihad or Qatar - Manchester with Etihad was my preferred route. Do NOT go with KLM via Amsterdam - they tell you it's a direct flight from Amsterdam to Manila but you land in Taipei in the middle of it, and the plane hasn't been upgraded yet to a decent business class.

Weekends, you want to be getting out of the city if you can - I took a no frills flight to Boracay for a weekend, which was amazing. Colleagues have driven north and gone diving / snorkelling before and said that was pretty good.

Can't think of much else to add.

[tarbera]

I'd want all expenses covered, business class flights every so often, maybe some danger money and to be in a decent hotel. My client has an office there and I've been out for a couple of weeks before working from home - the Americans that I work with refuse to go because it can be dangerous in the wrong areas. If they are going to find you an apartment, then you need to check the location and how you are going to get from there to work - I used to walk out of the hotel and grab a taxi down the road.

Hotels - ideally the Peninsula. Maybe the Shang-ri-la if necessary (but it's full of Russian mafia and not so subtle hookers) - it's a bit bling for my tastes. There is a new decent hotel nearby but the name escapes me.

Work ethic is going to depend on what kind of thing you are doing - I was visiting a call centre that worked 24 hours a day. I would stroll in about 10-1030 and leave about 7 or 8pm (maybe later) - that gave me access to the UK when I needed it as well, but the permies there were all on shifts to cover the 24 hours. Nothing too Draconian though. Some would work harder than others - two from our team were let go over the past year because they were getting lazy because they thought they could get away with it. But nothing out of the ordinary there really. The people I worked with are lovely, though - they know how you must be earning a lot more than them, but they know they are doing much better than many people around them so there's no jealousy.

Traffic is a nightmare - close your eyes and rely on the taxi driver not getting hit! One day a week people can't use their cars (depending on the number on their numberplate) - makes no difference to the traffic though.

You also want to time the trips so that you avoid the typhoon season as much as you can - I was there in September / October time and a supertyphoon was imminent but missed us. Fairly often the staff can't get into the office because of the weather - they live a way out of Manila / Makhati so if the weather is bad it's hard for them.

I wouldn't want to be out there for a long stint, though - a couple of weeks was fine for me before coming back to the UK. Depending on where you are based, there's a decent flight with Emirates, Etihad or Qatar - Manchester with Etihad was my preferred route. Do NOT go with KLM via Amsterdam - they tell you it's a direct flight from Amsterdam to Manila but you land in Taipei in the middle of it, and the plane hasn't been upgraded yet to a decent business class.

Weekends, you want to be getting out of the city if you can - I took a no frills flight to Boracay for a weekend, which was amazing. Colleagues have driven north and gone diving / snorkelling before and said that was pretty good.

Can't think of much else to add.

Interesting but no ladyboy stories ?

[gaz0001]

Thanks for all the advice, its a little mixed for me right now in terms of whether its a good move.


FYI - My wife is coming also. 29years old, brown hair, blue eyes, hot - Will this be an issue?


In terms of package, im thinking 1 Bed Apartment (In a top 2 area), Return Flights, Phone, Local Transport and around £350 - £400 per day. Contract most likely 6 months.

Can i live well, eat well, and frequent the safer more luxurious areas on that kind of package?

Cheers

[minestrone]

not so subtle hookers

I'm sold, when does the flight leave?

[TheFaQQer]

FYI - My wife is coming also. 29years old, brown hair, blue eyes, hot - Will this be an issue?

What is she going to do all day? Manila isn't that nice to be in with nothing to do, and the shopping can be expensive. The shopping malls are all designer stuff so aren't cheap - there is a good market, but I didn't go there. Someone I worked with got some really good fake watches there. Pearls are cheap in the market as well.

In terms of package, im thinking 1 Bed Apartment (In a top 2 area), Return Flights, Phone, Local Transport and around £350 - £400 per day. Contract most likely 6 months.

Can i live well, eat well, and frequent the safer more luxurious areas on that kind of package?

I don't know what the the contract market will pay out there, to be honest - I'm UK based with occasional travel there, so my day rate is what I bill in the UK regardless of location.

Looking at my last expense claim from when I was there, lunch and dinner ranged in prices depending on where we ate. A good meal for myself and my stream lead in Boracay cost £35 but bear in mind that I don't drink alcohol, so that made it cheaper. Fast food dinner / lunch cost £5. Taxi each day cost £3 (don't believe what the meter says!!) so not that much in the grand scheme of things.

The hotel bill was £1600 for the two weeks that I was there. When I flew, the flights were the expensive thing because the client left it to the last minute (OK, now quite - 10am, client tells me they want me out there; 9pm I'm on the plane), but if you have a couple of weeks notice then you're talking £2k return in business which is quite good.

I wouldn't want to be in Manila for six months, to be honest. Unless it's going to lead to working from the UK remotely afterwards, then I'd be looking for something in the UK rather than out there.