THE Cebu City ICT-BPM Council will focus more on talent development and encourage more students to take up careers in the information and communication technology – business process management industry.
Council chairman Eduardo R. Rama, Jr., said the ICT-BPM industry has been a major source of jobs in Cebu.
The industry employed about 1,200 workers in 2000. Fifteen years later, the industry’s workforce has grown to over 100,000 workers, he said.
Wilfredo T. Sa-a, Jr., executive director of the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for IT (CEDF-IT), the road shows will be conducted in some secondary schools to encourage more students to take ICT-related courses in college.
A road show was conducted recently in the Cebu City National Science High School as part of IBM’s “Earn as You Learn”program.
Other road shows may be conducted in University of San Carlos, Abellana High School, University of Cebu or Ateneo de Cebu in partnership with IBM and the city government, Sa-a said.
“We plan to do roadshows among high school students. We will be bringing some speakers from the industry,” he said.
The council recently recognized the top 10 business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in Cebu in terms of employment.
The awardees were Accenture, Convergys, ePerformax, Lexmark Cebu, Qualfon, Sykes, Teleperformance, Telstra, Wipro and Xerox. Representatives from these companies received plaques of recognition during the event.
The biggest employer is currently Convergys, with around 13,000 workers.
Anthony Noel, member of the ICT BPM council, said the 10 companies have a combined talent pool that accounts for around 60% of the total industry workforce.
“The importance and significance of this industry here in the city for us, particularly in the city government, cannot be overemphasized,” Cebu City Vice-Mayor Edgardo Labella said.
Rama said part of their goal in the council is to make Cebu the number one ICT-BPM destination in the world and ensure that the city will continue to attract more investments.
There are around 200 ICT-BPM companies operating in Cebu, based on Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) records.