BPO Industry Set to Expand and Upskill Services Provided for Roadmap 2022

As the New Year approaches riding in the wake of a new administration, the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) once again met to discuss Road Map 2022 – an outline of the forecasts and growth opportunities in the industry within the country.

Philippine Software Industry Association President Jonathan De Luzuriaga underlined the need for the IT-BPM industry in the Philippines to upskill the talent pool in order to fully take advantage of the growth opportunities in the next six years. He laid out the Road map forecast that the industry will expand, from having US$ 22.9 billion in revenues and a 12.7% share of the global IT-BPM industry in 2016. Road map 2022 projects that these numbers will grow to US$ 38.9 billion and 15.5%, respectively.

He presented this along with other key points of the industry’s Road Map 2022 at the Town Hall Meeting hosted by The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) at the Shangri-La BGC recently. Dubbed Accelerate PH: Future Ready, the Road Map was a product of the joint efforts and contributions of a team of CCAP members, outlining the forecasts and growth opportunities in the industry within the country.

Road map 2022

He emphasized in his presentation the importance of upgrading the skills of manpower employed by the industry. “The real opportunity for growth lies in mid-skilled tasks and high-skilled tasks. We need people who have strong analytical skills, strong grasp of logical reasoning. Low-skilled employees have to be upgraded to mid-skilled workers, mid-skilled workers have to be upgraded to high-skilled workers,” said De Luzuriaga.

He also dispelled the notion that the industry will be adversely affected by recent developments in global politics by outlining the fundamental drivers of future growth in the Philippine IT-BPM industry. According to him, “the drivers of growth in the country are its cost competitiveness, service-oriented culture, and the growing market demand in the APAC region.”

De Luzuriaga expounded on the different high impact programs for the Road map – active advocacy of fields in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), high entry placement program for fresh graduates, higher education technology consortiums, clear career progression paths, inclusive regional growth, stronger relationships with government, and continued improvement of English language skills. “There is a lot of opportunity for growth, but the high numbers projected by the Road map will not happen without focused intervention specially in developing talent,” he said.

New Board

As the final item on the Town Hall’s agenda, candidates in the upcoming election of CCAP’s board members for the year 2017 were made to present themselves. The candidates for the Board elections gave short speeches on their plans if elected. Meanwhile, those seeking re-election were asked what they would do differently. All candidates present were given the time of day to voice their positions among the crowd of member-attendees of CCAP.

The incumbent president of CCAP Mr. Benedict Hernandez gave advice for the next set of board members, to help kick start their initiative in working towards the 2022 roadmap goals. “A lot has been done to plan what the next six years should be – what the opportunities are and what needs to be focused on,” he said. “There’s a lot of heavy lifting to be done in detailing the Roadmap and executing it.”

The elections will take place at Revel at The Palace in Bonifacio Global City on December 7.