Unfortunately, I have to agree with Renee. Here’s what she said:

This has been our biggest downfall with our Philippino hires over the past 5 years and I have found many of my previous employees have held multiple jobs through the night and even attempted to complete them at the same time. Our employees tell us this is normalised on the online job communities with VA’s asking each other how many clients they have? Or commenting light-heartedly when they lose one of their clients and then just pick another one up. In our case we have been the primary employer offering 40 hours, leave, public holidays etcc and have only found out after significant amounts of training has gone into the person and only when they have let us down in one form or another and then we discover that having multiple jobs has been part of the problem.

It’s so different to our work culture and so disheartening when we have put our heart and soul into developing someone. It’s been very hurtful to find out the employee has been working 4 hours through the middle of the night for example or there have been major problems with the other company so they have pretended that a relative is sick so they can try to sort out the other problem. It’s now happened so many times we have set up our own office in Dumaguete so that some of our sales team can be supervised and we can be sure they are actually working for us.

We have time doctor running and this gives us some clues but as you know sometimes you suspect someone isn’t performing for a long time but you can’t put your finger on it and want to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s hurtful when you’re not being told the truth and then you discover the reality. It’s so easy to just disconnect and they never have to see you again. As someone who really invests into their employees financially and emotionally I’ve found this the most difficult part of employing Philippino employees. 

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Renee says it’s normal for online communities to ask about how many clients they have. Then they brag about it.

I agree; this has seeped into the Philippines. They call it “hustle culture”. They see us in the US working 60 hour weeks, so why not do the same?
Then combine that with social media influencers making huge profits selling “VA courses” promising huge incomes to people who “hustle”.

Get as many clients as you can. Cheat on each one a little bit. You’ll get a steady income stream even if you lose one or two.

It’s a problem.

So, if you see applicants bragging about their certificates from a VA course, don’t put much stock on it. The best training still comes from you.

My OFS team has also started doing something with it. My team started with VA training reviews channel. We give a good review of VA training that teaches them valuable work skills and a negative review of the bad ones.

We’re trying to change the perception of this hustle culture in the Philippines. Not that having multiple jobs is bad, it’s the dishonest that’s the problem. It’s when you’re cheating your employers, working X hours but billing Y hours.  Not ok.

I also asked Julia’s perspective on this. Here’s what she thinks:

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From her email, she seems to be doing everything right but she’s not finding the right workers.

Which leads me to believe the problem might be either of the following:
1. There’s something wrong with her hiring process. Maybe her job posts attract more freelancers? Or perhaps they forgot to ask if that person has another job? When she interviews her shortlist, perhaps she feels more comfortable with freelancers.

This is where DISC and other personality tests can be helpful. I noticed freelancers who tend to accumulate clients have a particular type. They’re more extroverted and domineering. This article on Forbes also talked about it, but it’s based on the Big 5 Personality test:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2021/10/31/do-you-have-the-right-personality-to-freelance-a-new-survey-sheds-light/

This also explains why they’re so successful. These workers come across as very confident in interviews.

2. Maybe there’s a management problem? The workers can’t stand whoever is in charge, so they’re already halfway out the door as soon as they get in?

That’s what I did when I still worked in an office. When we switched to a new manager (who was intolerable), I updated my LinkedIn and started putting out feelers that I was interested in working elsewhere. I even managed to do a few interviews. I only stopped job hunting because I got pregnant. I figured I would stick with it and resume my job hunt after I gave birth.

That’s when Jessica told me about working online. I started looking for online jobs while on maternity leave, and I quit as soon as I found one. 

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With something like this, always approach it from all sides.

Look at your hiring process. Look at your management process. Ask yourself why your job post is attracting these kinds of workers. Stop hiring workers with high D personalities for jobs that call for high S and high C (onlinejobs.ph/disc)

We’ll also do what we can on our end to make sure you get better workers and a better hiring experience.
It’s high on our priority list.

John