One Job, Many Lives

Abstract

The lives of five workers, in three countries, can tell us much about the world of work today. Ashley, a young American, takes a job in a call center following a family tragedy, but quits it as soon as she is able. Mina, an Indian woman, must leave the industry because the men in her life believe that a “call center job equals a call girl job.” Daisy, from a rural province in the Philippines, desperately seeks call center work as a way to achieve independence. She aspires to be like her cousin Belle, a proud and sophisticated transgender call center agent. Joy, meanwhile, forgoes her dream to migrate and become a nurse in order to stay in the Philippines and make a decent living answering calls.