The information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry recorded an increase of 10.3 percent in revenues and 8.4 percent in the number of of full-time employees (FTEs) in 2022 from 2021.
For 2023, the industry is seen chalking up another 13 percent growth in the number of FTEs and 10 percent increase in revenues.
In a statement, the IT Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said the industry added 121,000 FTEs in 2022, bringing the industry’s total headcount to 1.57 million. Revenues stood at $32.5 billion in 2022.
The group attributed the increases in FTEs and revenues in 2022 to the growth in banking, financial services and insurance, healthcare, retail, technology and telecommunications.
IBPAP said based on Roadmap 2028, the IT-BPM industry can reach 1.7 million FTEs and $35.9 billion in revenue in 2023.
A survey carried out by IBPAP showed 83 percent of IT-BPM companies expect to post growth in 2023 despite a potential global recession, while 17 percent remained neutral with their forecasts.
Results also showed organizations will continue to outsource and use global business services this year as a lever to drive some of their cost optimization initiatives.
Investments, according to the study, are projected to come from the following sectors: animation and game development, contact center, cybersecurity, financial technology, healthcare, internet service providers, IT solutions and shared services.
The study added for the countryside, Cebu and Davao will continue to be popular IT-BPM hubs, while Iloilo, Clark (Pampanga), and Sta. Rosa (Laguna) will be added to the mix.
The companies in the study identified some key business challenges the top five of which are: talent and skills gap; cost pressures; more work going to competing locations such as India, Poland and South America; adapting to evolving customer needs and business models like hybrid and remote work; and inadequate supply of enabling infrastructure, particularly in the countryside.
There were also significant expansions in the countryside, particularly in Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Pampanga, and Laguna.
Over 70,000 new jobs were created in locations outside Metro Manila–a 17 percent increase from the previous year. By the end of 2022, 31 percent of the sector’s total headcount or 486,000 FTEs were in the countryside.
The roadmap targets a 2.5 million-strong workforce and $59 billion in revenues by 2028.
“We still have a long way to go, but Philippine IT-BPM’s stellar performance in 2022 brings us closer to generating 1.1 million new jobs for Filipinos. It’s also a testament to the collective efforts that the private sector, government, and academe have exerted to retain the industry as an indispensable pillar of the economy,” said Jack Madrid, IBPAP president and chief executive officer.
