It’s been less than a year since we completed our first-ever impact report. Now, we are proud to present our Second Impact Sourcing Report – another milestone in our ongoing effort to improve the lives of our employees.

The report shows that Fair Trade Outsourcing may be facing a few challenges ahead, but it is on the right path. Our mission is to “reduce global poverty and economic insecurity by creating sustainable middle-class employment.” We want to grow “a new generation of capital owners from wage earners.”

Since we made this commitment, we’ve made an impact on the lives of 4,410 Fair Trade agents and the people closest to them. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to reach middle-class economic status. But, we remain hopeful as we continue to advocate for entrepreneurship. We saw the percentage of agents who became capital owners rise from 10% to 15% in just six months.

The Second Impact Sourcing Report

Our second impact report shows some unexpected outcomes. Unfortunately, not all of them are good. We believe societal factors and other externalities caused a couple of negative outcomes in our impact sourcing initiative.

One negative aspect of tax reform is the effect on our agents’ purchasing power. The income our agents are earning now is even more valuable to them and their families than ever before.

Many of our agents are breadwinners. It’s sad to see it’s becoming harder for them to take care of their dependents. The number of dependents who rely on them for basic economic support – like food, healthcare, and transportation – has grown from 1:3 to 1:6 in this most recent report.

Our agents report that the December 2017 changes in tax law are driving this ratio up, and negatively impacting their economic lives.

A second negative outcome is that the percentage of Agents earning above a middle-class wage has fallen from 68% in our last report to 37%.

Two factors are to blame here.

First, the tax law changes have caused significant inflation in the Philippines this year. To counter the effects of inflation, we have a new compensation policy going into effect at the beginning of this year.

Second, we had to recast the skills needed for one of our accounts when the client decided to end their relationship with us. It was a small bump in this road to social and economic freedom for our agents.

But, it was a learning experience that made us more determined in helping our employees. We not only want them to earn more, but also to become MORE through our Capacity Building programs.

On the bright side, many of our agents happily made the leap from mere wage earner to a capital owner. The number of entrepreneurs surged by 5% compared to the previous report.

It clearly shows that a culture of learning and entrepreneurship can make a difference. It has changed the way our agents look at their self-worth, gaining more confidence in their abilities, and taking control of their lives as they overcome the struggles of living in the developing world.

Highlights in Our Impact Sourcing Report

1. Lives given a chance or have moved to the middle class went up by 2,292 in six months.

2. Twenty-two percent of the agents have proud purchases that are for house improvements.

3. Agents have spent an average total time of 30 hours – up from 10 hours previously – on continuous learning & development programs.

4. We have 50% percent more capital owners and enterprising agents in our company.

5. We’re able to showcase another agent’s journey from wage earner to PisoNet-preneur.

In the coming months, we will tackle the transition from public to private transportation for many of our agents. This is great news for 85% of agents who depend on jeepneys, taxis, and trikes on their daily commute.

Also, we’re trying to get more accounts that have built-in middle-class salaries. Overall, we have still so much work to do ahead of us, and a lot of challenges to overcome.