The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) proposes the establishment of a national upskilling and reskilling program which intends to upskill one million Filipinos over a five-year period.
IBPAP also expects 73 percent of the workforce or 1.15 million full-time employees in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry shall have taken up mid- and high-skill jobs by 2022, a leap from just 54 percent in 2016 as the sector adopts to new technologies .
Rey Untal, president and chief executive officer of IBPAP, said in a statement the five-year program will offer near-hire training grants, upskilling vouchers, scholarships and immersions, student grants, and tertiary education subsidies for individuals; train-the-trainer programs and massive open online courses for teachers; and boot camps and teaching opportunities for industry veterans.
IBPAP is targeting to launch this year a scaled pilot project in cooperation with the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the Development Academy of the Philippines, and its partner associations. A dedicated team for talent attraction and development has convened with possible enabling partners to develop a framework for implementation and monitoring.
Top priority skill areas have been identified for all six subsectors of the IT-BPM industry
animation, contact center, global in-house centers, game development, health information – management and software development – based on what can be efficiently deployed via online platforms, support countryside development, and improve teleworking capacity of the current and future workforce.
By the end of the year, the goal is to upskill 1,000 full-time employees and provide a proof of concept for a national upskilling and reskilling program that will hopefully replicate the success of other talent attraction and development initiatives such as SkillsFuture in Singapore, TalentCorp in Malaysia, and the National Skill Development Corp. in India.
IBPAP is also working with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for other talent attraction and development initiatives.
With the pandemic accelerating digitalization across all industries, these programs are aimed ensuring Philippine IT-BPM’s current talent pool is able to pivot to higher-value services, IBPAP said.
Globally, the share of digital-focused services has exceeded that of traditional services in 2019 due to increased demand for analytics, automation, and cloud.
IBPAP added talent attraction and development will also play an essential role in driving inclusive growth in the countryside through the recently launched Digital Cities 2025 program which will transform 25 high-potential areas throughout the country into bustling IT-BPM hubs within five years.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of the UN World Youth Skills Day,celebrated worldwide on July 15, the German-Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI) launched a social media campaign highlighting its partnerships with companies and training institutions to support youth skills development in the country.
GPCCI since 2013 has supported the Dual Education and Training in the Philippines to develop skilled workers and safeguard companies’ productivity and competitiveness. (Irma Isip)
