BPO Industry Expects to Generate 170k More Jobs this Year

Jobs in the Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) sector this year are forecast to grow by a fifth from last year.

Danilo Reyes, who chairs the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), said the industry is aiming to grow its workforce to 1.2 million this year after jobs climbed to 1.03 million in 2014 from 900,000 in the previous year. The target headcount translates to another 170,000 jobs.

Speaking during a forum today on its prospects, Reyes said the industry is on track to meet its goal of 1.3 million jobs and $25 billion in revenues or 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by next year.

He said BPO revenues increased by 19 percent from $15.5 billion in 2013 to $18.4 billion last year, representing 6 percent of the Philippine economy.

“All sectors are growing,” Reyes said, adding that all segments – global in-house centers, healthcare, mobile applications development, gaming and call centers – are expanding.

For 2015, revenues are forecast to increase to $21.3 billion, as Reyes expects growth from both the voice and non-voice segments.

“Healthcare is becoming big. It is the fastest growing now in terms of revenues and employees,” he said.

To address challenges in sustaining its talent pool, IBPAP is pursuing the Service Management Program (SMP), a 21-unit specialized course designed to provide students the skill sets needed to work in the industry.

The program is being offered in 17 universities across the country.

IBPAP also is adding three or four cities to its list of next wave cities by the middle of the year. To date, the next-wave cities include Baguio, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Lipa, Metro Bulacan, Metro Cavite, Metro Laguna, Metro Naga and Metro Rizal.

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IT-BPO Industry Expected to Grow by $25 Billion in 2016

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry produced one million jobs in 2014 and generated $18 billion (P805.5 billion) earnings, which could grow to $25 billion (P1.118 Trillion) in 2016, an association official said on Wednesday.

Danilo Reyes, Chairman of the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), said the BPO industry aims to create 12.3 million jobs in the Philippines by 2016.

“BPO industry reached one million BPO jobs in 2014. This is significant, especially when the BPO industry began in the Philippines with only 2,000 employees 16 years ago,” Reyes said during 2015 Asia BPO Summit.

Reyes said the industry was optimistic it would continue to grow given the diversification of the services offered and their contribution to the overall performance of the IT-BPO sector.

According to Reyes, the contact center sector is still the biggest revenue  contributor, but new sectors are stepping up. These include the healthcare information management, which was the fastest-growing segment last year.

In the meantime, the group is targeting  to begin this year the crafting of a new road map for the industry beyond 2016  to set new targets and  strategies that will secure the leadership of the Philippine IT-BPO industry in the global offshoring space.

According to Reyes, the new road map is likely to cover six years up to 2022.

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Staff Turnover Declines in Philippine BPO Industry

The Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) industry posted a 20% staff turnover rate in 2014, the lowest level measured since 2007, as operations expanded to other major cities, according to a survey conducted by global professional services firm Tower Watson.

This is an improvement from the 33%, 24% and 26% attrition rates in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

“The sector, though fast-growing, has adopted various strategies in talent acquisition, including expanding operations outside the National Capital Region (NCR) to tap talent in Cebu, Davao and Southern Luzon,” said Vangie Daquilanea, Global Data Services Practice Head of Towers Watson Philippines.

“This has, in turn, minimized talent movements within the NCR, registering the lowest attrition rate in the last seven years,” she said.

IT-BPAP last month said that in the coming five years, “the industry will continue to expand at an average rate of 15% per annum, with the sector expected to earn some $20 billion and generate roughly 1.5 million new positions by 2016.”

“The continuing growth of the Philippine economy has largely benefited the BPO industry, since it gives foreign investors a positive impression of the country’s business environment. Scalability, experienced talent availability, foreign language skills, and a share of the graduate pool, all point to a very bright future for this sector,” Ms. Daquilanea said in the statement.

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