BPO employees in PH now at 1M

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MANILA — There are now one million employed Filipinos in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry, representing one percent of the country’s population.

According to the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president and chief executive Jose Mari Mercado, the Philippines’ target of 1.04 million jobs will be attained by end of September.

“The employment figure from the first quarter was 930,000. We would have already met one million. And I won’t be surprised if by the end of the third quarter we will already meet [the 2014 goal],” Mercado said. “I am confident that we will meet our targets at the rate we’re going now.”

He added that the IT-BPM industry otherwise referred by many as business process outsourcing or BPO industry was on track this year with revenues worth $18 billion.

Mercado shared the factors that contributed to the growth which include the number of companies that invested in the country and the office space vacancy rate. These helped in “maintaining the growth we achieved in the previous years.”

The IT-BPM sector last year generated $15 billion in revenues, higher by 17 percent from $13.2 in 2012. During the last quarter of 2013, employment in the said industry stood at 900,000.