More workers needed to meet IT-BPO targets

The information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry needs more qualified talents to meet revenue targets this year.

Looking for qualified talents remains one of the biggest challenges of the information technology – business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry.

To meet industry targets next year, Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDF-IT) executive director Wilfredo Sa-a, Jr. needs support from the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) in training more qualified workers.

“We need to prepare more people for the new jobs to be filled in. In jobs-skill mismatch, we are slowly narrowing down the gap because we’re strengthening the linkage between the academe and the industry. The academe now knows more about the needs of the industry,” Sa-a said during the technical-vocational forum held at the University of San Jose-Recoletos main campus yesterday.

Sa-a said the IT-BPO industry has projected double-digit growth rates in the years to come. In Cebu, Sa-a said the industry is expected to grow by 15 to 20 percent in the next five years.

“We are also expecting more players next year, for Cebu and for the rest of the Philippines,” he added.

The industry aims to increase direct employment to 1.3 million people next year from the estimated one million workers this year. Four out of 10 jobs will be generated outside Metro Manila.

The industry is also projected to earn more than the $25 billion remitted by overseas Filipino workers by the end of 2017. The current total revenue of the IT-BPO sector is over $18.9 billion as of the end of 2014.

Former Tesda director general Joel Villanueva said government should partner with the industry to ensure that its talent requirements are met.

“The only way to address job-skills mismatch is to find out what the industry needs. The only way also to create jobs is to have a quality training program and at the same time a good business atmosphere,” Villanueva said in the same forum.

Meanwhile, Sa-a said Philippine outsourcing companies are projected to thrive despite the stiff competition under an integrated regional economy.

“I think we will remain as the front runner because until now, we are way ahead of the rest of the Asean countries,” he said. Manila and Cebu are among the top 10 outsourcing destinations globally.

Among the country’s advantages are its pool of young, trainable, technology-savvy work force with good English language skills.

Sa-a said the entry of more foreign companies in the field will help make Philippine companies more competitive and more efficient.

“It’s an interesting development. The more players, the more competitive…lower cost for better quality,” he said.