BPO industry seen to emerge as next main pillar of PHL economy

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

WITHIN a span of five years, the country’s business process outsourcing (BPO) industry will overtake overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remittances as the main pillar of the Philippine economy.

The impact would be more significant when the workers move to the regions such as Clark, Iloilo and Davao because of lower operating cost and better quality of life,” said

Fred Rara, KMC Savills senior manager, research and consultancy in a news briefing on Wednesday at the Bonifacio Global City.

In fact, by 2028 the BPO sector would be the country’s biggest employer with 2 million employees,” Rara predicted.

D espite inflation besieging the Philippine economy, Rara said the BPO industry would continue to be driven by companies from the United States strategy to move a big number of services-oriented jobs to the country as part of achieving cheaper operating cost and address the shortage of labor in the United States.

Around 300,000 jobs are needed to be filled up in important sectors such as accounting, finance, health, information technology and software development. These are highend jobs or the knowledge process outsourcing type that are available to highly-skilled Filipinos,” KMC Savills Inc. Managing Director Michael McCullough told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the news event.

Moreover, Rara said Filipinos could also capture opportunities in data science, as digitalization is a pervasive force in the global economy. “I think American pharmacy benefit manager and health care provider Optum plans to hire Filipino data scientists for its local operations,” he said.

McCullough said the country must strengthen its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum to develop a substantial pool of data scientists to maximize the opportunities being offered by this form of outsourcing.

A ccording to the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IT-BPAP), the BPO industry was the biggest job generator with 1.44 million direct jobs and 3.61 million indirect jobs in 2021. As an economic catalyst, it was a sig -

MMDA, mayors jointly boost SRP compliance in markets

Claire Cabochan.

nificant contributor to the local economy with $29.5 billion in revenues representing a 7.5 percent contribution to the gross domestic product of the country. In the 2019 Tholons Services Globalization Index, the country ranked fifth in Top 50 Digital Nations, while Manila placed second in Top 100 Super Cities. Cebu City, the Queen City in the Visayas, placed 12th in Top 100 Super Cities.

D uring same news briefing, Rara pointed out that the Metro Manila office market rebounded in 2022 with a net absorption of around 270,900 square meters and a reversal from the negative take-up a year prior. “KMC Savills forecasts net absorption to slightly increase in 2023 but may be isolated in the top submarkets,” he said in his presentation.

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will coordinate with the Metro Manila Council (MMC) in monitoring of the prices of commodities being sold in various public markets across the metropolis.

MMDA Acting Chairman Romando Artes said Metro Manila mayors would help in ensuring compliance with the suggested retail price (SRP) to protect consumers from unscrupulous sellers.

O n Tuesday, Artes led the inspection of Agora Market in San Juan City to know if traders and sellers compliant with the SRP list from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

He was joined by MMDA General Manager Undersecretary Procopio Lipana, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora and DTI Assistant Secretary for Consumer Protection Group Ann

A side from price monitoring, they also checked the weighing scales of vendors.

For his part, Zamora said he initiated the market inspection to assure consumers of protection from price irregularities.

“ I want to make sure that our constituents are not being sold overpriced commodities,” Zamora explained, adding that the San Juan City Government has Local Price Coordinating Council tasked to monitor the supply and prices of basic food items.

B ased on the latest price monitoring, the SRP of imported red onions is P125 per kilogram, which covers medium and largesized onions.

Two notices of violation were issued against retailers at Agora Public Market due to alleged non-compliance to SRP.

A gora is the sole public market operating in San Juan.