The Philippines’ outsourcing industry (information technology and business process outsourcing) recorded S18.4 billion in revenues in 2014 or a growth of 18.7 percent. The strong performance IT-BPO Philippines was driven by increased demand from global companies for voice and non-voice services, global in-house centers (GICs), healthcare information management, gaming and animation, according to IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) chair Danilo Sebastian L. Reyes. 

During the Asia BPO Summit, Reyes said that all the sectors are growing, even contact center services, which grew between 15 to 17 percent last year. Despite challenges IT-BPO Philippines is on track to reach $25 billion in revenue and 1.3 million in employment by 2016. Reyes added that the industry was optimistic in terms of sustained growth due to diversified services offered by IT-BPO vendors and the sector’s overall performance.

While contact center services still accounted for the biggest revenue share, healthcare information management was the faster-growing segment in 2014. Reyes expects the demand for healthcare information management to grow due to the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD 10) system in the United States. 

ICD-10 necessitates a major transformation of the U.S. medical coding system, presenting opportunities for Philippine vendors to offer key services. Reyes stressed that the country’s healthcare information management will “really shoot up” if companies take advantage of the opportunity.

Significant Year

2014 was a significant year for Philippines outsourcing, not only because of double-digit revenues but also because of the more than 1 million jobs generated for Filipinos. IT-BPO Philippines employed about 1.03 million people at the end of 2014, of which 630,000 workers were in the contact center segment. 

U.S. firms make up 77 percent of services outsourced to the country, while 23 percent are shared by companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Reyes said the Philippines continues to be a top destination for IT-BPO companies because of its educated labor force, excellent infrastructure, government support, cost competitiveness, and proven track record. 

IBPAP’s goal for 2015 is to hit $21.3 billion in revenue and 1.18 million in terms of job creation. This year, IBPAP will create a new road map and set new targets for the IT-BPO sector from 2016 to 2022.