Barrio Luz Cebu City, Cebu Business Park, uptown Cebu. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu remains a top destination of firms in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry that want to explore or expand outside Metro Manila.
In its latest Market Intelligence Report, real estate service provider Colliers disclosed that outsourcing firms have begun occupying a total of 47,500 square meters of office spaces in areas outside the National Capital Region (NCR) in the first quarter of 2022.
Cebu accounts for nearly half of these figures, at 23,500 square meters. Other key areas outside Metro Manila that observed large volumes in office space transactions included Davao with 17,000 square meters and Pampanga with 4,400 square meters.
Colliers attributed this development, among others, to the national government’s push for decentralization and to improving digital infrastructure outside NCR.
“From 2022 to 2025, we see the delivery of about 604,300 square meters (6.5 million square feet) of office space in Cebu, Pampanga, Bacolod, and Iloilo,” the same report added.
Furthermore, citing latest research from the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), the firm also pointed out that the growing number of BPO workers outside NCR may have led outsourcing companies to also establish offices in these areas.
A summary of IBPAP’s findings, published through Colliers, showed that Cebu, together with Bacolod, Clark, Davao, and Iloilo, is a top location preference for BPOs.
“Colliers recommends that occupiers, particularly outsourcing companies, take advantage of the available talent pool and upcoming office space in key provinces,” they added.
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