Philippine BPOs seek better-prepared new hires
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry in the Philippines is actively seeking better-prepared candidates to enhance its “conversion rate” or the proportion of new hires who become permanent employees.
This move is seen as crucial for maintaining the industry’s competitive edge and fostering sustainable growth.
Addressing the talent supply gap in Philippine BPOs
Jack Madrid, President of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), emphasized the importance of Filipino talent as the industry’s foundational strength.
However, he noted that the talent pool requires continuous upgrading to meet evolving market demands.
“Our industry was built on the foundation of Filipino talent, and to preserve our market share and continue to grow our revenue and our headcount, we need to address the talent supply gap,” Madrid stated during a recent briefing.
Upskilling strategies for BPO workforce development
Madrid highlighted that the skills gap is not insurmountable but requires a concerted effort from both the private sector and new hires.
“There is no short-term fix for this, but having said that, I think it should be relatively easy for incoming new hires to realize that to be attractive to the job marketplace, they need to increase their overall skill set,” he said.
He clarified that upskilling does not necessitate redoing college degrees but rather updating and acquiring new skills relevant to the current job market.
“The Philippines has the advantage of being a very relatively young country with an average age of slightly over 25, and we have a very healthy graduate class from universities of over 700,000,” Madrid added.
Challenges in Philippine BPO competitiveness
The 2024 World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR) by Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development highlighted the skilled Philippine workforce as a key attraction for business executives.
However, Jamil Paolo Francisco, Executive Director of the Asian Institute of Management Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness (AIM-RSN PCC), pointed out that despite this, there are significant challenges in finding skilled labor.
“They put a skilled workforce as the key attractiveness indicator, and yet we also had data revealing that there was difficulty in finding skilled labor,” Francisco noted.
The Philippines’ labor market ranking dropped from 21st to 32nd out of 67 economies, indicating a pressing need to improve its basic, digital, and human infrastructure.
Collaborative efforts to improve BPO talent pipeline
To bridge the skills gap, Francisco stressed the importance of government and private sector collaboration in skills mapping and aligning educational curricula with industry needs.
“If we can coordinate the necessary skills needed and the skills that we teach our students in private and public education, then the friction in finding the right job skills matching is lessened,” he said.
Improving basic and digital infrastructure is also critical, as it directly impacts employee productivity and access to remote work opportunities.
The Philippine BPO industry, a significant contributor to the national economy, is at a crossroads. By focusing on upskilling and better-prepared new hires, the industry aims to enhance its conversion rates and sustain its growth trajectory.
With collaborative efforts from the government, private sector, and educational institutions, the industry is poised to overcome its current challenges and continue its success on the global stage.
