The number of workers in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) outside the National Capital Region (NCR) has grown to 420,000 at the end of 2021, an increase of 55 percent from 270,000 in 2016, according to Jack Madrid, president of the Information Technology Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).
In his presentation at the Livable Cities forum on Wednesday, Madrid said the share of workers outside NCR has grown to 29 percent in 2021 from 24 percent in 2016.
These numbers are expected to rise as the IBPAP eyes to add a million more jobs until 2028, on top of the 1.4 million at the end of 2021.
Madrid said IT-BPM companies are reducing their dependency on large-tier locations which decongest city centers including Metro Manila, thus tapping a rich talent pool available in the provinces.
“The (IT-BPM) industry has been instrumental in preserving jobs, generating new skills and opportunities, and stimulating countryside development. We can credit the industry for the dramatic change in the number of countryside locations that have occurred over the years, not just the mature provinces, but also in the emerging cities and provinces,” Madrid said, citing Bacolod, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Iloilo, among others as in -demand provincial locations.
With the pandemic, Madrid said IT-BPM companies have made it a priority to improve the health and well-being of employees, thus the adoption of flexible work models like hybrid and hub and spoke locations.
“ From this it stands to reason that this hub spoke and satellite model will continue to be practiced by our investors. Many of our players have already progressed and expanded to the countryside, including smaller provinces and cities, which has been strengthened as well by the use of technology and the use of satellites and work- from- home business models to reduce delivery portfolio concentration and respond to this growing clamor of our employees to be working closer to their homes and closer to their families,” he said.
The IT-BPM industry and the Department of Information and Communication Technology in 2020 embarked on the Digital Cities 2025 program choosing 25 areas based on their potential and being able to meet specific criteria that include costs, the quality of business environment, the availability of valid digital infrastructure among others. Fourteen out of these 25 cities have launched their individual roadmaps and recently participated in a marketing an intensive marketing sessions.
The 25 cities are Balanga, Batangas, Cabanatuan, Dagupan, General Santos, Align, Iriga, Laguna cluster, Laoag, Legazpi, Malolos, Metro Cavite, Metro Rizal, Olongapo, Puerto Princesa, Roxas, San Fernando (La Union), San Jose del Monte, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, Tarlac, Tuguegarao, Urdaneta and Zamboanga.
