BPO firms see revenues climbing to $14b in 2012

Business process outsourcing companies expect earnings to reach $14 billion in 2012 as the industry explores new sources of revenue.

“[Our 2011 expected revenue] is roughly $11 billion and plus 20 percent of that [for 2012],” Business Process Association of the Philippines chairman Fred Ayala told reporters in a press briefing Tuesday.

He said BPO services other than the Philippines’ niche voice services were now entering the local outsourcing space. The services include engineering, sales and advertising, game development and other knowledge-process outsourcing services.

“Some of the new areas are coming up,” Ayala said.

Gillian Joyce Virata, BPAP senior executive director, said the local BPO industry might realize an additional P2 billion to P3 billion in revenues with the expanding high-value non-voice services.

“The portion of voice services decreased over the years from more than 80 percent before to about 65 percent now. The trend will continue because the non-voice is growing at a faster rate than voice,” Virata said.

She added voice services, where the Philippines overtook India this year, would continue to grow and be the country’s main source of BPO revenues in the next few years.

“Voice will still double in the next five years,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ayala said BPAP was accelerating efforts to improve the quality of labor pool in the country to meet the needs of the BPO industry. –Jeremiah F. de Guzman, Manila Standard Today