By Catherine N. Pillas
The information technology and business-process management (IT-BPM) industry sees rapid and sustained growth and is on track to hit $25 billion in revenues this year, according to the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap).
Jose Mari Mercado, Ibpap head, told reporters that, while revenues for 2015 has yet to come in, the industry forecast of $22 billion for the year is attainable. “If we hit the $22-billion guidance for 2015, the industry is on track to hit the $25-billion goal for 2016, because that’s just a 14-percent increase. We have been posting that kind of growth in recent years,” Mercado said.
Ranked second to overseas Filipino workers’ remittances in contribution to the GDP, the IT-BPM sector’s revenues surged to $18.9 billion in 2014, from $8.9 billion in 2010.
In terms of work-force growth, the sector boasts of 1.07 million employees in 2014, from 520,000 employees in 2010.
Since 2010, the IT-BPM sector has been growing at an average of 21.8 percent, according to the IT-BPM 2011-2016 road map. For 2015, the industry sees employment at 1.2 million, while revenues are expected to hit $22 billion.
The Ibpap is expected to update its projections with a new road map—The IT-BPM Roadmap 2016-2022—which will contain the growth assumptions and strategies, as well as the industry’s employment predictions. The road map will also outline the required interventions to scale up Filipino BPO services up the value chain, as well as the needed government support to sustain the industry’s growth.