The first Business Process Outsourcing was introduced in the Philippines in 1992. Since then, many call center companies have grown in major cities in the Philippines. The BPO in the Philippines was even named the “Sunshine Industry” because of the rampant establishment of BPO firms in this country. And now, the Philippines has overtaken India as the world's number one BPO service provider.
But as we all know, it is a very competitive world out there. Countries around the globe are now seeking to challenge the Philippines’ dominance in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, especially in more high-value, non-voice services. Non-voice jobs involve table jobs, such as transcription, insurance, and finance, and across industries like airlines and transportation, securities, human resources, litigation, data processing, e-publishing, and healthcare.
The new challenge is how to develop our own qualified workforce with the specialized skills required by the non-voice sectors, such as the scalability of entry-level talent, the availability of specialized skills, the availability and quality of managers, and the migration of skilled talent. It is essential for us to make sure our schools graduate young professionals who can fill this human resource gap.
The government, industry, and institutions of higher education are enhancing the regulations for training potential call centers, other BPO workers, and those engaged in non-voice BPO to make them more competitive and attractive to the industry. TESDA has even ramped up support for training and development of non-voice-based skills in the BPO sector, particularly in the Visayas, to boost the region as a choice destination for investors.
It is very evident that our country is achieving another goal, not just as the number one spot in the outsourcing industry but also as the haven for non-voice Philippine business process outsourcing services.