CCAP to expand, upskill BPO industry

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

Philippine Software Industry Association presi- dent Jonathan De Luzuriaga underlined the need for the IT-BPM (information technology-business process management) 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 in- dustry will expand, from having US$ 22.9 billion in revenues and a 12.7 percent share of the global IT-BPM industry in 2016. Road map 2022 projects that these numbers will grow to $ 38.9 billion and 15.5 percent, respectively.

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 and high-skilled tasks.

Skills

“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. He said the drivers of growth in the country are its cost competitiveness, serviceoriented culture and the growing market demand.

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 added.