Employment in BPO sector hits 1-M mark

Employment in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry has already hit the one million mark, or 1 percent of the population, as more and more foreign firms outsource work in the Philippines.

Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president and chief executive Jose Mari P. Mercado told the Inquirer that this year’s target of 1.04 million jobs would likely be attained by end-September.

“The employment figure from the first quarter was 930,000. We would have already met one million. And I won’t be sur prised if by the end of the third quarter we will already meet [the 2014 goal],” Mercado said.

The IT-BPM industry (also referred to as business process outsourcing or BPO) was also on track to cap 2014 with revenues worth $18 billion, he said. “I am confident that we will meet our targets at the rate we’re going now.”

Mercado cited the expansion of a number of companies as well as the tight office space vacancy rate as among the indicators that the industry was “maintaining the growth we achieved in the previous years.”

Last year, the sector generated $15 billion in revenues, up 17 percent from $13.2 in 2012. Employment stood at 900,000 as of end-2013.