MANILA – The Business Processing Association of the Philippines expects revenues and direct employment by the Business Process Outsourcing industry to double in the next five years.

Based on a study commissioned by BPAP for the IT-BPO Road Map 2011-2016, the BPO industry has the potential to grow from a $11-billion industry in 2011 to a $25-billion industry by 2016, providing well-paying jobs to 1.3 million Filipinos.

But to achieve this target, Hernandez said the industry must address the looming shortfall of hundreds of thousands of people between now and 2016.

In 2011, the industry directly employed 638,000 people providing voice, back-office, creative, information technology and software development, health information management, and other services to companies around the world from BPO hubs in Manila, tier-two, and Next Wave Cities throughout the Philippines.

Demand for talent remains high and is increasing, so much so that the growth of the industry now largely depends on how many employable graduates can be produced.

To address the talent hurdle, BPAP has undertaken a series of ambitious initiatives in cooperation with key government agencies and the private sector to attract potential hires and improve near-hire skills sets so they become employable.

The association is also reaching out to individuals who may not be aware of the opportunities the industry provides, especially in complex, non-voice services.

BPAP coordinates government-funded near-hire remedial training as well as certification programs for potential applicants, volunteer teaching, and train-the-trainer orientation and certification to enhance applicant employability.

It also works with the academe to align tertiary curricula with industry requirements. Other initiatives are meant to cast a wider net and compete for people who might not have considered an IT-BPO career in the past.

“We recently launched a series of educational and information initiatives to encourage Filipinos to work in the IT-BPO industry because we found that, in many cases, people are unaware of the opportunities that our industry provides.

Over 30 percent of industry revenues is generated by non-voice, complex services delivered in a continually expanding, broad range of functional areas and industries.*PNA

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