Filipino digital workers launched a coalition to lobby for labor and free speech protections in the workplace as artificial intelligence is deployed. The AI tools raise new risks, and the firing of a worker who spoke to Rest of World in November signals an industrywide “code of silence” around the impact of AI on the workplace, the group said.
“We call on the government for a proactive and inclusive policy-making, as workers face threats of job losses, diminishing wages, and other harms,” Lean Porquia, convenor of the coalition, said in a press statement. Porquia is also head of research for the BPO Industry Employees’ Network, an organization focused on the rights of business process outsourcing workers.
The Coalition of Digital Employees – Artificial Intelligence, or Code AI, was prompted by Rest of World reporting that led to investigations and the termination of a worker, Code AI members said at a press briefing in Manila. The report, published in November 2024, described advanced AI tools deployed by Concentrix Corporation and Accenture — including AI co-pilots and sentiment analysis deployed for American Express and Meta, Facebook’s parent company — that made work both more efficient and demanding, according to the workers.
“Someday, AI could just replace us,” former BPO employee Renso Bajala said at the briefing. Bajala chose to share his work experience at Concentrix in the Rest of World article in November, and said he believes he did not violate a nondisclosure agreement.
But Concentrix, a BPO firm that employs approximately 100,000 people in the Philippines, fired him shortly afterward for noncompliance with its “code of discipline and ethics,” Bajala said. The code states that employees may not mention the client’s name or state opinions on social media.
Noel Neri, a lawyer at the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center in Manila who is not affiliated with Code AI or Bajala, told Rest of World the policy is “unjust and unreasonable.”
“It tempers freedom of expression and warrants an illegal dismissal complaint [from Bajala],” said Neri, who reviewed Concentrix’s disciplinary code.
At Accenture, managers are investigating employees on Meta projects, trawling through their social media accounts to find potential “leaks,” according to two employees who requested anonymity to safeguard their jobs.
Concentrix, American Express, Accenture, and Meta did not respond to Rest of World’s requests for comment.
Code AI has demanded Concentrix reinstate Bajala, and that workers be allowed to freely discuss the impacts of AI on labor.
There is an industrywide “code of silence” on AI, Porquia told Rest of World. “We can’t say anything bad,” he said. “Because BPOs are prepping for a full-blown AI implementation, they’re trying to hide the exploitation behind it.”
Concentrix’s chief executive officer, Chris Caldwell, told Bloomberg last August that AI will create new roles that existing workers can fill.
The Philippines has 1.84 million BPO workers, and the country leads in AI adoption, with two-thirds of companies already using the technology. Industry estimates suggest that 300,000 BPO jobs could be lost in the next five years, and that 100,00 new roles could be created.
AI puts pressure on workers to increase productivity, without corresponding increases in wages or benefits, the Code AI coalition said.
“Our productivity is closely monitored by AI. It adds pressure and stress to drive up our key performance indicators,” Bajala said at the briefing.
Code AI includes representatives from digital sectors including BPO, delivery, telecoms, and information technology. The group will participate in a congressional labor committee technical working group on the Artificial Intelligence Regulation Act, a bill that proposes to regulate the development, application, and use of AI.
Code AI will hold a town hall on February 22 in Manila for digital workers who face AI in the workplace.
“We aren’t against AI,” Porquia said. “We want technology in the Philippines to evolve. But in doing so, workers need to be protected.”
