Nearly half-a-million Filipinos were employed in the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry in 2014, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The PSA’s Labstat Updates showed around 460,518 Filipinos were employed by BPOs nationwide. Around 84.6 percent, or 389,752, were working as call-center agents.
These workers were in 891 BPOs nationwide. Some 429, or 49.1 percent, of these are engaged in call-center activities and 420, or 47.1 percent, were in computer-related activities.
“This issue of Labstat Updates is the first in a six-part series of industry profiles that feature key industries with strong employment generation potentials,” the PSA said.
Some 87.6 percent, or 403,192 workers, were considered rank-and- file employees and 12.4 percent, or 56,884, were managers/executives and supervisor/foremen.
Data showed working owners/unpaid workers shared less than 1 percent at 0.1 percent, or 442 workers of the total employment.
More than one-half at 53.2 percent, or 244,769, of the industry work force were females. Young workers, aged 15 to 24, also comprised one-fourth at 25.3 percent, or 116,572, of total industry employment.
Meanwhile, the BPO sector still had a vacancy of 325,470 jobs between January 2013 and June 2014.
Of these, seven out of every eight vacancies were easy-to-fill occupations at 87.4 percent, or 287,430, while the rest were hard-to-fill occupations at 12.6 percent, or 41,040.
“Two out of five, 38.7 percent or 15,878, hard-to-fill occupations were customer-service representatives/associates,” the PSA added.
The top hard-to-fill occupations include other computer professionals at 6,648 jobs; other finance and sales associate professionals, 4,949; system analysts and designers, 3,403; and receptionists and information clerks, 2,062.
The lack of needed competency/skill among applicants, 534; lack of experience, 237; and expectation for high salary at 146 were the main reasons why job vacancies were considered hard-to-fill by establishments.