The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) joins the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) in raising the alarm on a proposed legislation in the US and the development of AI that threaten the jobs of call center workers in the country. It calls on the Philippine government to prepare to create more jobs in the country.

In July, US Senators Ruben Gallego and Jim Justice filed the “Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025.” The bill mandates that the US federal government keep a public list of call center companies that outsource more than 30% of their operations abroad, deny grants and guaranteed loans to those companies, penalize companies that have existing federal awards but outshore operations, and give preferences in contracting to companies not on the list.

One year after its enactment, the bill will also require call center companies to disclose the locations of their employees at the start of each call. Customers will then be informed of their right to request to be transferred to a call center agent working within the US. The bill, plainly, wants to encourage US companies to transfer operations to the US.

Apart from the bill, the development of Artificial Intelligence technologies threaten to replace call center employees from their jobs. The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is rife with conversations about this and even the “Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025” contains provisions about AI.

The bill is part of the protectionist thrust of Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” pledge, which is itself part of a growing trend towards economic protectionism around the world. The labor movement in the Philippines and the world have rightly raised the alarm about the threat posed by AI, or the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, on call center and other jobs in the Philippines.

First, the US bill and the development of AI should not be used to blackmail workers and the Philippine government into accepting violations of the labor rights of the reported 1.9 million Filipinos who are employed in the BPO sector. Employees’ complaints about violations of the country’s workplace safety law by BPO companies in Cebu should be taken seriously and not swept under the rug.

Second, if the projected massacre of jobs pushes through, the government should ensure that employers follow a fair and proper process in relation to removing employees from work. Employees must be given sufficient notice and proper compensation. The US bill and AI must not be invoked to carry out unjust termination of workers.

Third, given the growing protectionism in the world, the speedy development of AI, and the pressing need for government action to protect the country’s workers, the Ferdinand Marcos Jr government should exert all efforts to create more jobs in the country. For starters, it should engage labor, business and experts in dialogues about boosting the country’s industry and agriculture, which have shrunk badly in recent decades. It should pursue a program of national industrialization to create decent jobs in the country.