Industry leaders are expecting the Philippines to obtain some of the offshore jobs generated by business-process outsourcing (BPO) firms abroad after witnessing how the local sector kept its operations going in the face of the global pandemic.
In a webinar last week, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines (HIMAP) expressed confidence the country will remain to be one of global leaders for BPO operations. The Philippines, it said, will likely notch a respectable fraction of jobs to be generated by BPO firms abroad.
HIMAP President Rogelio Salazar Jr. said the health care sector, for one, is responding to the coronavirus situation to the best it can and this allows the sector to post continuous growth.
“Health care is the only growing industry amidst the pandemic. While other industries are laying off people, we are hiring and training them,” Salazar said.
“We have learned through our member companies that additional orders are coming—health care providers and payers, and even pharmacies all have their hands full and require our support in making sure the end clients are satisfied.”
As recessions all over the world force many economies to source their BPO jobs offshore, the Philippines is faced with the opportunity to acquire good number of these jobs, Salazar said. Some BPO firms are now even discussing the prospect of expansion, one of which is needing 4,000 agents before September.
Dexcom International Business Operations Head Jessica Shields explained during the webinar the Philippines is an excellent investment choice for BPO firms for its population’s strength in English, its official second language.
“There was also the fact that the Philippines has strong ties to the United States, and we found that from an operator’s perspective the industry was so tight. Despite the challenges we faced over the past months, with the support of industry partners and colleagues from the Philippine government, we were able to grow at the rate that we needed to,” she said.
Dexcom International is a California-based health care provider that specializes in diabetes management. It has a BPO office here in the country at Taguig.
The BPO industry last year grew its revenue by more than 7 percent to $26.3 billion, from $24.5 billion in 2018. Further, it added some 71,000 new workers to bring its labor force to a total of 1.3 million.