About Us
Built to Do Offshore Staffing Differently
David Barlow and Erwin Sy co-founded Ascendia Works to address the changing needs of SMBs. We noticed that SMBs have been sending work to the Philippines since the early 2000s but the service delivery model hadn’t evolved.
Many well established players and the constant stream of new entrants to the industry seem focused at scaling their businesses and working with clients who want to hire several roles if not many. And, thus those clients with a select number of roles were being largely underserved by the market. As the market has become more educated about the range of offshore staffing service providers they are increasingly seeing value in working with a boutique provider who is going to be more invested in their success.
Also, Filipino talent has levelled up. Since the early 2000s there has been a massive knowledge and capability transfer to the Philippines. There are highly skilled and experienced talented Filipinos who have been working with Australian and New Zealand SMBs for years. Sadly, the offshore staffing providers in the market haven’t changed. If you want to attract highly capable and talented Filipinos you need a different partner who is better geared to hiring these folks rather than just delivering scale.
OUR values
How We Work
When David and Erwin co-founded the business we thought deeply about what we wanted from each other and best the way to work together and these values became the foundation of how we conduct ourselves with each other, our Filipino Dream Team, clients and suppliers.
Respect
Every human being wants respect and it is also an important part of Filipino culture.
Trust
We trust every employee from day one. We don’t hire someone if we don’t trust them. Naturally, if an employee loses our trust they need to earn it back.
Empowerment
People do their best work when they’re given room to do it. We get out of the way of our clients and their Filipino team so they can do their best work together.
OUR TEAM
The Co-Founders
David Barlow
Co-Founder & CEO, Sydney
David has been helping Australian and New Zealand SMBs building high performing teams in the Philippines for over 15 years. He is passionate about seeing his clients succeed in the Philippines but also watching their Filipino teams thrive.
At a personal level David finds it very rewarding working with Filipinos because first and foremost they are amazing people but also it creates jobs in a country that needs more opportunity, too.
David resides in Sydney, Australia.
Erwin Sy
Co-Founder & COO, Metro Manila
Erwin brings over twenty years of leadership experience in people management and information technology to Ascendia Works. He is instrumental in fostering our high-performance organisational culture based on values of respect, trust, and empowerment. Erwin also designs and manages our IT infrastructure and security posture.
He is passionate about ensuring Ascendia Works delivers on its promise of amazing service for our clients and their Filipino teams.
Erwin Sy resides in Greater Metro Manila, Philippines.
Our STORY
How it all started
David and Erwin worked together for another offshore staffing company for five years and later both left that organisation. However, they stayed in contact and talked about setting up another offshore staffing company but one which would do things differently. After teaming up and co-founding Ascendia they won their first client assignment in July 2023 and shortly thereafter hired their first Filipino rockstar. And the journey began.
Our MISSION
What We Do Here
The world doesn’t need another offshore staffing company. But SMB needs have changed and our industry hasn’t kept up. SMBs are hiring Filipino professionals for demanding, skilled roles – not low-value, repetitive work. The talent has levelled up. The model has to change as well. Critical hires need an Australian-led, consultative process. It costs more. But the right hire pays for itself many times over.
01
Educate Australian and New Zealand SMBs about the quality of Filipino talent
We educate one client at a time about the high calibre talent readily available in the Philippines. Gone are the days of sending call centre jobs to the Philippines to slash costs. Hire the best and brightest people in the country!
02
Create well-paying, meaningful WFH jobs for skilled Filipinos
Filipinos are great people full stop. But give them great work and the opportunity to work from home (without having to sit in traffic for 25 hours week) you will find talent who will be very committed to your business.
03
Deliver on the service promise.
We not only want you to be successful in building your offshore team in the Philippines but we also want you and your Filipino team to have an amazing experience. That is our service promise to you.