#contactcenterworld
Business process outsourcing (BPO) firms are expected to create over 120,000 jobs annually in the next three years, addressing the problem of unemployment in the country, a lawmaker yesterday said.

"Based on sectoral projections, we are confident that BPO firms will be able to add an average of 124,000 well-paying jobs annually from 2014 to 2016, or a total of 372,000 new posts over the next three years," Pasig City Representative Roman T. Romulo said in a statement.

"This will help address unemployment, especially among college-educated Filipinos," Mr. Romulo, also the chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, said.

The lawmaker also cited the IT and Business Processing Association of the Philippines’ projection that they will yield "up to $27 billion in annual revenues and directly employing some 1.3 million Filipinos by 2016."

Midmarket CIO Forum"We are counting on the bigger BPO players to continue to drive the formation of new jobs," Mr. Romulo said in the same statement.

"As they draw in more business, the super BPO firms can quickly scale up their activities here and hire extra staff, while reducing cost per unit of output owing to greater operational efficiency," he added.

Mr. Romulo also noted that BPO giants Accenture and Convergys now have more than 35,000 employees each in the Philippines.

He also pointed out that the country’s 36 "mega" BPO firms -- including JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. -- Philippine Global Service Center and TeleTech Offshore Investments B.V. -- raked in some P192 billion in combined revenues in 2012.

The BPO and IT-enabled services industry includes contact center services; back office services; medical, legal and other data transcription; animation; software development; engineering design; and digital content.

For his part, House Committee on Labor and Employment member Eastern Samar Rep. Ben P. Evardone told BusinessWorld via text message yesterday: "The BPO industry has been one of the bright spots of the country’s economy. The government should extend all kind of support to sustain and develop it further."

The BPO sector accounted for a total of 800,000 jobs last year, according to Mr. Romulo’s statement.

#contactcenterworld

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.bworldonline.com