When you hire remote professionals in the Philippines, you’re partnering with people who are literally half the world away but are fully invested in your success.
I mean New York sits 12 hours behind Manila and 13 hours behind during daylight saving. When your day is just about to end your Manila based virtual assistants are just starting theirs.
That 12-hour gap felt like a brick wall during week one. By week three, I realized something. My business was running 20 hours a day while competitors barely managed 8.
It might look challenging and trust me it is but time zones aren’t a problem. They’re leverage if you know how to use them.
Understanding Philippine Time Zone Differences
The Philippines operates on Philippine Standard Time (UTC+8) year-round. No daylight saving time. No seasonal adjustments. Planning becomes simpler once you get the grasp of it.
Here’s what time looks like:
- Eastern Time: 13 hours behind the Philippines. Your 9 AM in New York means 10 PM in Manila.
- Central Time: 14 hours behind. Chicago’s 9 AM hits 11 PM in Manila.
- Pacific Time: 16 hours behind. Los Angeles business hours translate to midnight through early morning in the Philippines.
- Mountain Time: 15 hours behind. Denver’s workday starts as Manila winds down for the night.
These gaps shift by one hour when US regions observe daylight saving time from March through November.
How Time Zones Affect Europe and Australia
Europeans see the timezone difference a bit more differently. If you’re in London you will be 8 hours behind during GMT, 7 hours during British Summer Time.Australian businesses get the easiest arrangement.
Sydney runs just 2-3 hours ahead of Manila depending on daylight saving. Nearly identical work hours
How to Structure Work Across Time Zones
Your remote workers shouldn’t sit idle waiting for approvals. You shouldn’t wait for them either. Give them everything needed for 6-8 hours of independent work:
Clear project briefs with success criteria and the authority to make decisions within defined boundaries.
Review what they completed today. Provide immediate feedback on finished work. Outline the next phase of projects. Flag any issues you see coming.
How to Schedule Meetings With Filipino Remote Workers
Rotate inconvenient time slots. One week you take the 9 PM call. Next week you take the 7 AM slot. Occasional inconvenience is tolerable.
Most meetings exist because someone didn’t want to write detailed documentation. Information that fits in a memo should be a memo. Decisions that can happen in a shared doc with comments should happen there.
Reserve synchronous time for genuine collaboration or complex problem-solving.
Creating Sustainable Remote Work Schedules
Short-term solutions that burn people out don’t serve anyone’s interests long-term.
Schedule Recovery Time for Night Shifts
Night work accumulates fatigue faster than daytime schedules. Lighter workloads on Fridays after four consecutive night shifts. Extra vacation time for team members working US hours. Regular schedule that allows for proper rest.
Conduct Regular Check-Ins About Work
Ask directly about fatigue levels. Discuss work-life balance honestly. Find out if current arrangements remain sustainable. Be prepared to adjust based on feedback. Rigid adherence to a schedule that’s burning people out helps nobody.
Rotating Night Shift Coverage Between Team Members
Rather than permanently assigning people to late-night shifts, rotate coverage weekly or monthly.
Distributes the burden across larger teams. Works best when multiple people can handle similar responsibilities. Becomes impractical for highly specialized roles.
Consider Compressed Work Weeks
Four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days. Work Monday through Thursday nights Philippine time. Covers Tuesday through Friday US business hours. Gives team members three-day weekends to recover.
Popular arrangement for US-aligned Philippine teams.
Best Tools for Managing Time Zone Differences
Manual timezone conversions eventually lead to expensive scheduling mistakes. Smart tools handle the logistics while you focus on actual work.
Calendar Apps with Multiple Timezone Display
Google Calendar, Outlook, and Calendly all support a time conversion function. Turn on this feature once and calendar invites sent to you automatically show times in everyone’s local time zone. Set your primary timezone and add secondary zones for your remote team locations.
Using Loom for Async Communication
Tools like Loom and Zoom can record your screen while you’re explaining critical instructions, share the link, and you’re done. Remote workers watch when convenient, pause to take notes, and replay sections they need to understand better.
This method gives them full context without requiring you to be online simultaneously and cuts down endless back-and-forth email threads that take only two minutes to show on video.
Project Management Platforms
Asana, Monday, or ClickUp serve as your central operations hub. One place where every task lives, every deadline is tracked, and every piece of information stays accessible.
Team members check the board when they start their day and immediately know priorities. Comments and updates happen right on tasks, keeping context together.
Slack or Teams for Organized Communication
Messages organized by channel and thread instead of chronological inbox chaos. Searchable history means nothing important gets buried forever. Integrates with other tools so updates flow automatically.
Create channels for projects, departments, or topics so conversations stay focused. Remote workers can catch up on relevant discussions without wading through irrelevant messages.
Turning Time Zones Into a Competitive Advantage
Time zones either break your operations or become your biggest competitive advantage. Companies that treat the gap as a scheduling problem stay stuck.
Companies that treat the gap as strategic leverage pull ahead. They design workflows that move forward continuously, build async communication systems, and create smart overlap windows.
Projects finish in three days instead of a week because work never stops.Your competitors haven’t figured this out yet.
Most still think managing Filipino remote workers means replicating their office with people who happen to live far away. They’re wrong and their results show it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the time difference between the Philippines and US?
The Philippines is 13 hours ahead of US Eastern Time, 14 hours ahead of Central Time, and 16 hours ahead of Pacific Time. When it’s 9 AM in New York, it’s 10 PM in Manila. The gap shifts by one hour during US daylight saving time from March through November.
How do you schedule meetings with Filipino remote workers?
Create 30-60 minute overlap windows where both sides are online. US East Coast works best at 8-9 AM (9-10 PM Manila). US West Coast finds better overlap at 5-6 PM (9-10 AM Manila). Record all meetings for people who can’t attend live.
What tools help manage time zone differences?
World Time Buddy for instant time conversions. Calendar apps with multiple timezone display. Loom for async video explanations. Project management platforms like Asana or Monday. Slack or Teams for organized async communication.
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