A while back I wrote an article for Bob’s magazine and later for this blog about the possibility of “Soft Landings” here in the Philippines. I really was thinking in terms of, say, a young couple with debt and job problems … instead of losing their house and going on Food Stamps in the US they might be able to come here, work at building themselves a business, pay down their debt and then return to the US … if they wanted to.

It’s still very much a possibility … the Philippine economy is not slowing nearly as much as many country’s economies are, and because the banking and securities laws are much stricter here than in the US there is no exposure to those insane, nasty mortgage derivatives that broke the back of many prosperous US firms. You could not sell in this country the shameless garbage that Merrill Lynch, AiG and other supposedly intelligent US firms bought … with their client’s money, of course.

It appears over the last few days that another major US-based firm which certainly should have known better … Citibank … is doing their own “Soft Landing’ routine here in the Philippines. I think I’ll shoot them over a consultancy bill and see if they’ll cut me a check, eh?

Citibank’s Philippine subsidiaries … just like AIG’s and several other American firms here … are in sound financial shape. While Citibank US goes to the Treasury department, hat in hand, like an irresponsible second grader who lost his lunch money, Citibank Philippines is expanding significantly … they have more than 1,000 new job openings created this year alone.

Their secret? The same one I tout here all the time for individuals and family businesses. Citibank Philippines is now a huge player in the BPO arena … not just call centers but doing all the ‘back end’ work that it takes to run a bank or investment house. They do the work that others don’t want to, and do it well and do it efficiently.

Is it nice to hear some good economic news and to hear about shortages in skilled employment? Only in the Philippines these days ;=)

(Note: I’ll leave comments open but please don’t leave me messages asking where to apply for these jobs. I’m not a Citibank shill and I sure am _not_ looking for a job myself, so remember that Google is your friend, ‘K?)

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