PH BPO Industry Will Remain Stable

Much to the relief of the BPO workers in the Philippines, the predictions regarding slowing down of the industry due to the protectionist policies of foreign governments, have been dismissed by various economic experts.

In January, 2017, First Metro Investment Corp. conducted a macroeconomic briefing wherein Bernardo Villegas (University of Asia and the Pacific) made a statement that the BPO industry in the Philippines continues to remain a stable and certain area, regardless of Trump’s pronouncements about returning jobs back to America.

According to Villegas, even though Trump might be successful in pushing investors to restore manufacturing processes in the United States, it will be difficult to do the same for BPO services. This is primarily because there is a much higher difference in labor costs in the BPO industry as compared to the manufacturing sector.

Similarly, Takehiko Nakao, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President predicts that the economy of the country will grow at a higher rate this year and the BPO sector will be the key driver behind this growth. He further claimed that the country need not worry about Trump’s protectionist policy because the focus is primarily on industries which have been taken over by Mexico owing to the North American Free Trade Agreement.