The Philippine BPO industry has come a long way since the first call center started in 1992. Over the years, this sector has grown and earned a reputation as a global leader.

Global Significance

• The Philippines ranks seventh among the world’s top outsourcing destinations. This stated by 2017 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location Index.
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• The Southeast Asian country is the world’s undisputed call center capital.—overtaking closest rival India—with 16% to 18% of the global market share.

• Six cities in the Philippine made it to the 2018 Tholons Top 100 global outsourcing destinations.Manila (second), Cebu (11th), Davao (75th), Sta. Rosa (87th), Bacolod (89th), and Iloilo (92nd). The city ranking is on digital transformation, talent skills and quality.

• The United States is the country’s biggest outsourcing client, making up around 65% of the local BPO market. Due to that,BPO companies in the Philippines also serve a growing number of clients from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, according to a Reuters report.

BPO Industry Growth and Contribution to Philippine Economy

• The Philippines is home to 851 registered BPO companies. This is from latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data. Almost 400 (46.2%) firms provide computer or IT-related services. Twenty are medical transcription businesses. And the nine are from animated films and cartoon production houses.

• The Contact Center Association of the Philippines expects an annual 7% to 9% for call center industry. Therefore, it is higher than the expected 6% to 7% growth for the global industry.

• The BPO industry is the country’s top foreign exchange earner. And this is aside from remittances from overseas Filipino workers. Hence,They are bringing in more than Php 1 billion total revenue.

• The Philippine central bank expects a 10% revenue growth in BPO services. US$24.4 billion from US for 2018, noting its 7.5% revenue increase in the first quarter of the year.

• Also, The BPO sector’s valuable role in the Philippine economy got recognition from no less than President Rodrigo Duterte. He cited it as among the largest contributors to the country’s gross domestic product.

Employment in the BPO Sector

• Latest PSA data shows that the BPO industry employs 575,600 workers, with a majority (87.6%) in call centers. 12% work in computer or IT-related firms, 0.5% in medical transcription, and 0.3% in animated films and cartoon production.

• BPO jobs are the most in-demand in the Philippines, contributing to the country’s 14% increase in job openings. And this is according to Jobstreet.com Job Outlook Report. Apart from call centers, most BPO job postings are from IT, accounting, and finance.

• BPO industry officials expect almost 700,000 additional opportunities for medium and high-skill jobs by 2022.