IT-BPO needs more high-value added services—World Bank

The Philippines’ information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector needs to move to more high-value added and non-routine jobs to remain its competitive, the World Bank said.

Based on World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends, the multilateral agency said that providing a larger volume of high-value and non-voice services could promote the country’s BPO sustainability, as the global market for complex services grows.

“Progress in digital technologies and international competition increases the need to move to more high-value added, non-routine jobs,” World Bank report read.

“In the Philippine IT-BPO industry, 85 percent of the revenues are generated in jobs intensive in routine cognitive tasks, with workers increasingly susceptible to automation,” the lender added.

The country’s IT-BPO industry has been a driver of economic growth and job creation in the last decade. It has grown at an average of 24 percent annually, and its share of the global onshore services market went from five percent in 2006 to 11 percent in 2013.

To maintain this growth pace, the World Bank suggested a concerted effort among business, academia, and government to make systemic improvements across the IT-BPO ecosystem in the Philippines.

Among these are to enhance telecommunications infrastructure and directing industry-government partnerships toward more non-voice training and skills development, the bank said.

From virtually zero in 1999, IT-BPO in the Philippines directly employs around one million full-time employees as of August 2014, accounting for around 2.3 percent of the country’s total employment.

The industry has also a robust voice sector (primarily call centers), accounting for 64 percent of the industry’s revenue, while health care information management employment grew by 47 percent from 2012 to 2013.

Earlier, it was reported that the BPO industry may soon overtake dollar remittances from overseas Filipinos given the continued strong demand for office space.

At present, the Philippines remains the top destination for IT-BPO firms given the educated talent pool, excellent infrastructure, cost competitiveness, and adequate government support for the industry.

For 2016, the sector’s revenues are seen to reach $25 billion, while employment is targeted at 1.3 million jobs.

Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/it-bpo-needs-more-high-value-added-services-world-bank/#JvOCVtMF4EZjgjHw.99