Cebu remains a KPO hub in PH

A property management and research firm named Cebu still as the “most practical choice” for knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firms looking for viable locations outside Manila.

“We see more Metro Manila-based KPO firms establishing operations in Cebu given the need to have a redundant site that would back up their Metro Manila operations. The influx of KPO firms has propped up office space demand within the Cebu Business Park and Cebu I.T. Park,” said a Colliers International Philippines report released on Tuesday.

High-value services

KPO are generally higher value outsourcing services that include health information management, software engineering, finance and accounting.

Over the years, Colliers said the share of KPO employees in Cebu’s outsourcing workforce has grown from 10 percent in 2008 to nearly 30 percent in 2015.

Colliers cited the ample supply of skilled college graduates where 35 percent of the 30,000 graduates yearly from Cebu colleges and universities have a degree in engineering, IT and math, or medical-related degrees.

Rapid ubanization

The high level of urbanization driven by the development of several townships and public infrastructure projects has also helped position Cebu as a top KPO destination.

To date, top KPO firms in Cebu include Accenture, which employs 5,000 workers. The company said it will hire at least 1,000 more employees that can handle SAP, Java, and analytic programming, among others.

Another successful KPO firm in Cebu is the Vietnam IT company FPT Software, which has 62 software engineers. It targets to employ about 2,000 people by 2020.

“FPT Software officials said that establishing operations in Cebu is an integral part of the company’s Asean expansion strategy,” said Colliers.

Aside from IT-related job, medical graduates like nurses and pharmacists also find job opportunities in Cebu with health information management (HIM) firms setting up operations like Medcor and United Health Group, among others.

Collier also noted that the public sector is also important in boosting Cebu’s image as a major KPO hub.

KPO perks

From 2017 to 2019, an anticipated 300,000 square meters of office spaces are expected to go online in Cebu.

As a recommendation, Colliers noted that Cebu’s academe must collaborate with local ICT councils in calibrating their academic programs to fit KPO requirement. It also encouraged the local government to grant additional incentives to KPO companies that will provide free training to college students and graduates.