Feeling lazy at work, I blitzed some blogs and happen on this post by Dido regarding his reasons of staying here in the Philippines given the worsening economy and living conditions (attributed to very opinionated political, religious, and ksp groups).
Being asked the same question at least once a week (but not necessarily as talented as Dido), the answers given were very much the same stuff that I give to my well-meaning friends and family. For me it all boils down to one thing: job security.
Since the internet bubble burst, the tech industry has not yet been able to get a glimpse of its former glory. If then the jobs were literally draining the IT resources of the Philippines, a reversal is happening; jobs are being outsourced to locations where labor is cheap and the developers are as good as what they can get on their own country.
I still have plans of working abroad but my current job allows me to be assigned onshore for a short durations at a time. Given that my position is given less opportunities to work on a foreign assignment I am not totally out of it which is a good thing for me. Even if India is proving to be a tough competitor in the outsourcing business (they pay less and their education system is churning out IT masteral graduates much as the same way ours is churning out nurses and caregivers), I am still optimistic that I will still be competitively employed for the next 5 years. Within that time I hope I am already able to pay for my housing loan. 😀
Instead of spouting a spiel about nationalistic and patriotic duties I would paraphrase what my father told me when I kidded him about migrating to Australia (or was it New Zealand?) and petitioning him and my mother. My father said “migrate if you want but leave me here. In there I am going to be the outsider, the one being discriminated. Here in our province I belong and occasionally feel like a king.”
Wise words.
ciao!