Tea "Sunshine" Industry – Philippines
What is business process outsourcing (BPO)? The Department of Commerce and Industry defines BPO as the “delegation of a service-type business process to an external service provider.” In the Philippines, the industry has become a driving force in the country’s economic development. In 2011, the industry earned nearly $ 9,000,000,000 in export revenue that contributed to an approximate 4.8 percent share of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), as reported by the Philippine Business Process Association (BPAP). The secretary of DTI, GL Domingo, says that the goal for this year 2012 is $ 11 billion, which contributes 5% of the country’s GDP. The Philippine BPO industry is divided into sectors namely: Contact Center, Back Office Support, Transcription, Animation, Information Technology, Engineering, Digital Content / Player Development.
The Contact Center or Call Center sector led the growth of the industry and placed the country on the map as no. 1 destination for contact center and call center outsourcing according to the president and CEO of BPAP, Benedict Hernandez. These companies offer voice and non-voice services. Voice services include technical support services, customer services, and telemarketing services. Non-voice services include chat customer support, email response, email marketing, and many other related services; generally inbound and outbound call handling services.
Additionally, the Philippines Business Process Outsourcing Association (BPAP) broadly classified offshore, onshore, near shore and outsourced services into three categories. These are ITO services, BPO services, and ESO services. However, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services have most of the pie. Related services in this category also emerged and gradually impacted on the growth of the BPO industry in the country. International research firm Ovum said the Philippines is one of the rising knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) destinations in the world, like Sri Lanka and China, while India is in the front leading as number one. Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) services have created a bit of a stir lately in the country. As more law firms learn to get an overview of the growing market for LPO services. The Philippines is not lacking in talent, the smart English-speaking lawyers in the country will become a promising workforce in LPO’s clientele.
The Philippine government continues to recognize the importance of the BPO industry in the economic development of the country. DTI Secretary GL Domingo recently noted that the Department of Education (DepED) and the Higher Education Commission (CHED) are collaborating to review the country’s education curriculum, and include the efforts of the Development Authority and Technological Skills (TESDA) to provide training to support the BPO industry given its growing demand for local talents and skills in the near future. Additionally, the legislative body has shown its support for the BPO industry by ratifying new laws such as the Republic Law 10151 and the Data Protection and Privacy Bill to protect and preserve the rights of owners and employees as well.
The potential growth of the so-called “sunshine” industry in the Philippines in the coming years will give birth to one of the recurring unemployment problems in the country. More Filipinos are looking to improve their economic stature with everyone’s help, there is nothing that cannot be achieved.