How to keep BPO jobs amid US protectionist policy threat

Wilfredo Sa-a Jr., managing director of the Center for Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDF-IT) (right), discusses the options that the information technology-business process management sector can do to sustain its growth during a news forum in Cebu City. With him at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu were Melanie Ng, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president (left), and Elias Baquero, forum host.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

CEDF-IT chief: Develop more skilled, experienced workers; find niche in industry

The Philippine business process outsourcing sector should strive toward developing more skilled and experienced employees to sustain the industry’s growth and to deter the threat brought about by certain American protectionist policies.

Wilfredo “Jun” Sa-a Jr., managing director of the Center for Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDF-IT), said this as he assured that it is still business as usual for industry players despite US President Donald Trump’s pronouncement to take back all outsourced jobs to America.

“The best thing we could do for now is to go for the higher value services because definitely, if we do more complex things, it will be difficult for them to take these jobs away from us,” Sa-a told Cebu Daily News on the sidelines of a news forum on Tuesday.

Economic driver

The Information Technology-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry is among the nation’s biggest economic drivers, projected to generate $25 billion in revenues and 1.3 million in employment nationwide in 2016.

Metro Cebu alone presently employs 140,000 workers in the sector, generating 420,000 more in indirect employment.

Manufacturing first

While President Trump’s pronouncements caused jitters within the business sector earlier, industry stakeholders’ fears have been allayed as Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza said that the US is focusing on the repatriation of the manufacturing sector for now.

Plaza said this following a meeting with “highly placed people” in the Trump administration a few weeks back.

Diversified field

Sa-a said it is uncertain how long it will take before the US government moves to do the same for the IT-BPM sector; that is why it is imperative to strive toward developing more skilled and experienced employees.

“The area of outsourcing is a much diversified field. . . . The whole industry itself cannot be monopolized (by one country) because of its width and breadth. There is so much opportunity, more than enough for Filipinos to excel in,” said Sa-a.

Niche

Sa-a said the local industry is trying to focus on IT outsourcing, shared services, and some engineering services, in a bid to find its niche.

He said Cebu cannot cover everything and players need to be realistic since there are also limitations in terms of talent availability as well as office spaces.

Even Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Sa-a said, is very optimistic that the industry can grow faster, setting a target for industry players to bring employment in the Metro Cebu to 200,000 by 2019.

LEAP

Sa-a said to achieve this goal, they had introduced programs even down to the level of senior high school, such as the Learning English Application for Pinoy (LEAP) initiative.

This program is intended to improve the oral communication skills of graduates, with local BPO companies expressing willingness to supplement the program with their own in-house training so graduates become more employment-ready, he added.

Optimism, threats

With these initiatives in place, Sa-a said, he is optimistic the IT-BPM industry will continue to grow even with the looming threat of protectionist policies as well as the rise of artificial intelligence in business processes.

However, he stressed the need to strengthen linkages between the industry and academe to produce a more competent workforce.

Other markets

Sa-a also pointed out the presence of big markets other than the US, which are still the dominant client base of BPO companies in the Philippines.
He said that there has slowly been a shift to Europe, Australia, and Japan, as well as the ASEAN’s market of 600 million people.

“There are more opportunities in this market and this is one of the brightest spots in terms of economic development in the next 20 years. We just have to explore,” Sa-a said.

Transformation summit

In response to the growing IT-BPM industry in Cebu, CEDF-IT is mounting the 2017 Transformation Summit slated on May 22 at Marco Polo Plaza in Cebu City.

The summit is set to gather 250 industry stakeholders, including members of the academe, information and communication technology (ICT) councils and local government units, CEDF-IT members and non-CEDF-IT members as well.