RP said leading only in call center business

THE PHILIPPINES may have surpassed India in terms of call center employees and revenues, but it has yet to take a similar lead in other segments of outsourcing, an official said yesterday.

Commission on Information and Communications Technology Chairman Ivan John E. Uy told reporters at the sidelines of an electronics industry conference that the Philippines had exceeded India in the number of new employees, with 15,000 as of end-October. “India had 13,800 new hired [sic] employees for this year but we still have to wait until the year ends.”

Mr. Uy said the Philippines had also surpassed India in call center revenues, with $5.5 billion as of end-October against the latter’s $5.3 billion.

“We are projecting to reach $5.8 billion by the end of the year, while India projected $5.5 billion. These are significant accomplishments, but the entire [Philippine outsourcing] industry is still valued at $9 billion, while India is at $47 billion,” he said.

On its Web site, IT services firm SourcingLine said the entire outsourcing industry goes beyond call centers, to include services that demand higher skills like software development, engineering design and investment research.

Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines chief executive officer Oscar R. Sañez said in a phone interview that the country’s annual offshore outsourcing revenues could more than double to $25 billion, equivalent to a 10% share of the global market, by 2016.

“The industry can grow from $9 billion in annual revenues and approximately 500,000 direct employees today to $20 billion and 900,000 employees by 2016 if current conditions are sustained and with a lot of hard work,” he said. — AMPD, Businessworld