IT-BPO revenues up 17% to $15.5B

MANILA, Philippines - Revenues of the country’s information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector grew by 17 percent in 2013 from a year ago as more companies chose the country to locate and expand their operations, the Information Technology Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said.   

IBPAP president and chief executive officer Jose Mari Mercado told reporters at the sidelines of the Conference on United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education and Corporate Training yesterday, revenues of the IT-BPO sector reached $15.5 billion last year, up from $13.2 billion in 2012.   

In terms of employment, the IT-BPO sector’s workforce count rose to 900,000 last year from 777,000 in 2012.   

“The performance of Filipino knowledge workers industry has been such that the clients have been coming back and just asking for more and more work to be done in the Philippines,” Mercado said.   

He noted that the Philippines is the top choice by companies for voice services and the second preferred location for non-voice services.   

For this year, he said the IT-BPO sector is expected to continue to grow with revenues targeted to rise by another 17 percent.    

The IBPAP also aims to increase the number of individuals employed in the sector to 1.40 million this year.   

The growth for this year would be supported by the back office space.   

“The health care sector is expected to grow very very fast this year. 

And then the engineering services sector is another vast sector we are looking at,” Mercado said.   

The entry of new players would likewise drive the growth in revenues and employees this year.   

Mercado revealed that an American company plans to locate in the country for financial and accounting services, while a Japanese firm is also looking to put up an office here for health care information services.   

“They are looking at initially 200 to 300 people,” he said.   

He added that an Australian firm providing insurance and financial services and which already employs 1,000 people in its office in Metro Manila is expanding by setting up a branch in Cebu and hiring 600 people.   

To support the growth of the sector, the IBPAP is coordinating with the government, particularly the Board of Investments to promote the country to IT-BPO firms overseas, as a location to set-up shop.   

The IBPAP is likewise working with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for programs to equip graduates with skills needed to be hired in the IT-BPO sector.   

Mercado said the IBPAP also sees opportunity in working with British educational and training institutions to find out how Filipino IT-BPO workers can serve the UK market.