IT-BPM sector to employ 10,000 more by yearend

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT/BPM) is looking at adding at least 10,000 more workers before the end of the year.

This number will add to the over 200,000 employees now working for IT/BPM companies within Metro Cebu.

Officials at the Cebu IT/BPM Organization (CIB.0) made this outlook yesterday during the press presentation of its upcoming 2022 Transformation Summit & Expo slated July 13-14, 2022, dubbed “The Next Level Play.”

According to CIB.O executive director Salvador “Buddy” Villasis, Cebu is bracing for the continuous demand for talents especially in the Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) side.

Data analysts and scientists, software engineers, AI and machine learning specialists; big data specialists, digital marketing and strategy specialists; process automation specialists, business development professionals, digital transformation specialists, information security analysts, app developers and Internet of Things specialists, are just few of the emerging talents in that KPO sector will be requiring.

According to McKinsey & Company, the shift of skills demand known as the innovation of “new collar” jobs is already happening.

The national growth rate in the high-paying KPO sector stood at 6.8 percent to 10.2 percent.

The upcoming virtual summit will discuss on diverse issues and topics facing the IT/BPM sector in the Philippines including the fight to continue the hybrid work set up, as well as industry’s pandemic exit strategies.

According to summit chairman Darwin John “DJ” Moises, the Summit expects to attract thousands registered virtual participants across industries, as well as academe and the government.

In 2021, the Philippine Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) posted 10 percent growth in revenues fetching a total of USD29.49 billion.

Likewise, full-time employees (FTEs) in the country increased by 120,000 in 2021, bringing the sector’s total headcount to 1.44 million.