IT-BPM revenue seen to grow 12% this year

MANILA, Philippines — Revenue growth in the country’s information technology - business process management (IT-BPM) sector may reach up to 12 percent this year on the back of strong demand for services.

IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) chairman Benedict Hernandez, during the International Innovation Summit, presented this forecast from the group’s knowledge partner Everest group.

The sector’s full-time employee count, meanwhile, is seen to rise by seven to eight percent this year.

The country’s IT-BPM industry generated $26.7 billion worth of revenues and created 1.32 million direct employees in 2020.

Hernandez said the forecast for the Philippines is along the same lines seen for the growth of the global IT-BPM industry at eight to 13 percent in terms of revenue and seven to eight percent for full-time employees for this year.

“As the global demand has started to pick up, so has the Philippine demand,” he said.

He said growth areas for business process outsourcing offerings include insurance, life sciences, healthcare, customer experience management, human resource operations, finance and accounting, as well as data and analytics support for different companies.

He said a recent survey conducted by IBPAP covering 50 companies that represent over 600,000 jobs also showed firms’ optimism for this year, with more than half or 56 percent expecting double-digit growth.

The same poll showed 38 percent anticipate single-digit growth, while six percent see flat growth for this year.

Hernandez said other indicators also show positive signs for the industry with demand for IT-BPM jobs on employment portals up 30 percent year-on-year, as well as for real estate increasing by 10 percent this year.

With the current roadmap for the IT-BPM industry set to end by next year, he said the group is now working on its next six-year plan which will cover key points such as accelerated digitization, talent upskilling, ecosystem partnerships, responsive policy regime, and country brand and competitiveness.

To support the continued growth of the industry, he said government policy would be key, particularly in terms of allowing IT-BPM firms to continue the work-from-home scheme while enjoying incentives.

“Nobody is saying we are going back to traditional brick-and-mortar once this is over. The resounding thinking and anticipation is there is going to be some form of hybrid out there and currently our policy regime is not actually attuned to that,” he said.