John Jonas (host) explains why many Filipinos live in Metro Manila, clarifying that the city of Manila is small (about 17 sq miles) while Metro Manila/NCR comprises 16 cities covering ~239 square miles with ~14.5 million people (~13% of the Philippines population). He describes Manila's outsized economic role (about 36% of national GDP), high density, and urban problems (severe traffic, high cost of living, housing shortages, long commutes). Jonas argues that online work platforms (notably OnlineJobs.ph) and government efforts to develop regional economies have helped decentralize jobs away from Metro Manila, enabling many Filipinos to move back to provincial cities (Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, etc.) and work remotely. The video closes with practical hiring advice: infrastructure (internet, power) is now reliable across the Philippines, so employers can confidently hire outside Manila.
Questions this video answers
Episode 194.
October 13, 2022.
About 17 square miles.
Approximately 239 square miles.
About 14.5 million people.
Chapters
Welcome to the Secret Sauce of Outsourcing podcast that's dedicated to making you better at outsourcing to the Philippines. This is episode 194. Why do so many Filipinos live in Manila? So if you've recruited an ofs, chances are you've had applicants from Manila. If you know any Filipinos, chances are they're probably from Manila too. Is Manila really that big? And why do so many Filipinos live there? Well, so let's first correct a couple misconceptions about Manila. So Manila isn't a giant city. The actual city is really just like 17 square miles. When people say they're from Manila, most people are referring to Metro Manila, also referred to officially as the National Capital Region, NCR. So Metro Manila is made up of 16 cities, including cities of Manila, Quezon City, Pasig City, Calo Khan, Makati. There's all these cities included, of which Manila is not the biggest. Quezon City is actually twice as big as the city of Manila. All of these cities cover a square area of 239 miles. 239 square miles, which is just slightly smaller than Tucson, Arizona. However, the population of this area is about 14 and a half million people, which is about 13% of the population of the Philippines. And so despite that, I just want to, if you're watching this as a video, hopefully you can see this map where you can see how small this area area actually is. That is Metro Manila. It's pretty small compared to the rest of the Philippines, yet it has 13% of the population there. And there's a reason that a good amount of the population lives there. Most of the schools are there. There's most of the jobs of the Philippines are in Manila. It's the second most densely populated region in the country and the fifth most densely populated place in the world. Living there is expensive and crowded, but people go there because Manila offers so much opportunity. 36% of the country's GDP, their gross domestic product comes from Metro Manila. So it's big. And if you're looking for work, Manila is the place to go. Obviously with all of this comes problems. Traffic is horrendous. I mean, to go a couple miles is not uncommon at all. For it to take hours, a couple hours. People regularly talk about their two hour commute to work every day in Metro Manila. Then you have poverty and lack of affordable housing and all kinds of problems that come with big city, which is one of the reasons why people want to move away from Manila. They want to move back to the provinces where they're originally from. The problem with that is the opportunities just aren't there. Or at least they haven't been there in the past. For the past few years, the government has put a lot of work into trying to develop economic opportunities outside of Manila. In fact, over the last couple years, they've contacted us quite a few times saying, hey, will you work with us in this region as we try and develop economic prosperity here? And this is one of the reasons why when you post a job on onlinejobs pH, you don't just find people from Manila. You find. In fact, now you find a majority of the people not in Manila. You'll find them in Davao. You'll find them in Iloilo or in Cebu or all over the country. This is also why there's call centers all over the Philippines. So for a long time, when I would get a phone call or when I would call in and I would get someone in the Philippines, I knew they were in the Philippines. So I would ask like, hey, are you in the Philippines? And then, yes, sir, I am. And then I would often ask like, where are you? Oh, I'm in Cebu. Oh, I'm in Davao. I'm in. I'm in Iloilo or whatever it is, wherever it was. But very often it wasn't. It's not just in Manila. So from your perspective, part onlinejobs ph and the people hiring have played a big part in this decentralization of Manila back to the provinces. And I'm proud of this. Like, this is. It's allowed a lot of people to move back home or to spend time with their kids rather than commuting for four hours a day. When we did a series of interviews where we interviewed people in the Philippines, quite a few of them credited their online work with being able to move back home and live near family again. I have people on my team that moved away from Manila as soon as they found online work. Like, they got a job with us and they moved from Manila back to home where their families are. In the end, I just wanted you to understand the situation, like, what Manila is and how it's situated, and then also to keep an open mind, like when you're hiring. The infrastructure around the Philippines has gotten really, really good. You don't need to be in Manila. You get reliable Internet and power all over the country. It's really easy to hire people outside of Manila and to trust them and to have them do good work and to have them be really skilled.
