The Philippine information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector records up to 30 to 40 percent attrition.
Citing a survey, Jack Madrid, IT Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president, said 40 percent of employees are looking to change jobs in the next four to six months.
Madrid said this will create cost pressure among companies.
“We are an industry that is known even pre-pandemic to have higher than normal attrition.
That’s one specific survey. That could also be a global trend. With this younger generation, behaviors and expectations are a little bit different. It’s something to incorporate into our people strategy… because attrition, retention and attraction of people are very, very important,” Madrid said at a forum hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.
Madrid said the biggest challenge faced by the industry is talent shortage caused by the difficulty in finding enough qualified people who will fill the roles required by companies.
“This is not a new issue, but it is something that we must continue to address because the demand for jobs is there. But there is a misalignment in the supply side, there is way too much attrition. As an industry known for high attrition, we must continue to address this.
Global attrition for industry was 10 percent higher in 2021 than it was in the previous year,” Madrid said.
The pressure on salaries and the fast-rising salaries is causing another kind of disruption that needs to be addressed.
“This misalignment of talent supply versus demand and access to the niche talent is the result of that is the fact that high demand skills are in short supply. And employers are struggling to attract and retain talent to meet the skills gap and related disruptions have increased this talent supply gap at both the entry level and the high skill level categories,” Madrid said.
Despite the challenges and disruptions caused by the pandemic, IT-BPM was one of the few industries that grew and made significant contributions to employment and foreign exchange earnings.
In 2020, when most industries shrank, the IT-BPM sector even grew and hired an additional 23,000 full-time employees and generated $26.7 billion in revenues.
In 2021, despite the continuing uncertainties, the growth was estimated to have reached7 to 8 percent in headcount and 8 to 12 percent in revenues.
With a workforce of around 1.4 million Filipinos, the IT-BPM sector continued to show strong multiplier effect and likely generated an additional 4.6 million indirect jobs in support industries like food, retail, transportation, logistics and others.
In 2021, the sector is projected to have brought $28.8 billion in revenues in addition to spurring consumption spending.
The industry will remain a crucial driver of inclusive growth through well-established and emerging IT-BPM hubs located beyond Metro Manila, with 27 percent of the sector’s employees spread throughout the countryside.
