BPO sector to maximize hiring of SHS grads

THE BUSINESS process outsourcing (BPO) industry in Cebu is looking at maximizing the hiring of senior high school graduates in the next two years in anticipation of the absence of college graduates during this period.

Wilfredo “Jun” Sa-a Jr., managing director at the Cebu Information Technology/Business Process Management Organization (CIB.O), said his group has been working with Cebu City Councilor Joy Young for this initiative since last year.

However, Sa-a said in a text message to Cebu Daily News that he cannot fully disclose details of the project yet.

“The idea is to maximize hiring of senior grads in the next two years,” he said.

There are currently no regular first year and second year college students due to the implementation of the Senior High School (SHS) program under the K to 12 curriculum.

The SHS program was implemented in 2016, with the pioneer batch of graduates set to complete the additional two years of secondary education in 2018.

By the time the last batch of college students enrolled before the program was implemented graduate in 2019, grade 12 SHS students today will still be sophomores in college.

This was seen to create a gap in the workforce, which industry stakeholders are trying to address since the BPO sector is expected to continue showing robust growth in the years to come.

According to the 2017 edition of the JobStreet.com Cebu Jobs and Salary Report, the BPO and shared services industry still offer the most jobs available in the region’s employment marketplace, findings that have been consistent over the past few years.

Sa-a said this only proves that the IT/BPM sector continues to grow and is still the industry to beat.

Eileen Camarillo-Go, JobStreet Philippines marketing manager, said that of the 3,000 Cebu-based job listings between January and March this year, BPO-related positions accounted for 35 percent or at least 1,000 vacant posts.

She said the BPO sector also dominates in the entire country in terms of job listings, even amid jitters in the industry caused by earlier pronouncements of US President Donald Trump to take back outsourced jobs to his country.

Earlier reports this year stated that some BPO companies have decided to put on hold expansion plans in the Philippines while waiting for clearer policies from Trump, but Go said they have not seen this translate to a reduction in numbers.

“We don’t feel it yet,” she said, adding that the upward momentum will be sustained in the quarters to come.