K to 12 eyed to sustain BPO manpower needs

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu's outsourcing industry is going to take advantage of the K to 12 system to sustain the fast growing manpower demand in the province.

This is one of the thrusts to be focused on by the newly introduced CIB.O (Cebu IT/BPM Organization), as the concern on quality talent supply continues to give headaches to outsourcing firms, said CIB.O president Gregg Gabison.

"We are taking advantage of the K to 12  phenomenon," said Gabison explaining that his organization will work closely with the academe sector to help introduce specialization tracks that suit the requirement of the outsourcing sector.

This way, K to 12  graduates will have huge opportunities to work in the high-paying IT-BPO sector.

CIB.O's direction also coincides with the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) goal in utilizing the K to 12  students to fill in the shortage of manpower in the IT-BPO sector.

In an earlier interview with DICT deputy undersecretary he said that K to 12  batches now on its second year is seen to aid the manpower requirement of the outsourcing sector.

Ibrahim mentioned the tracks formulated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which include the business analytics and service management to boost the requirement of outsourcing sector particularly in the higher value operations.

The Philippines is way ahead to hit the 1.4 million mark of total outsourcing jobs with revenue of US$25 billion, he projected.

According to Ibrahim, his office will continue to encourage universities and colleges to offer business analytics and service management courses, so that supply of high powered talents will be sustained and even improved. (FREEMAN)