Lack of software developers threatens BPO sector growth

CEBU, Philippines - Although Cebu has been tagged as the number one emerging Business Process Outsourcing hub in the world, the waning supply of software developers in the province needs to be addressed immediately.

Economist Ramon M. Quesada said that Cebu could capture large number of BPO and high-value investments in the Information, Communication Technology (ICT), if it finds a resolution to the shortage of software developer or software engineer supply in the province.

Cebu and the neighboring provinces in Central Visayas were able to overtake India in terms of voice and back-office services and this edge could be strengthened if Cebu develops a good pool of software engineers given the presence of a large number of colleges and universities here.

“What we lack is a good advantage in software development,” he said adding that this strength remains India’s stronghold.

In a survey conducted by the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedfit) showed that Cebu is short of at least 1,500 skilled software developers a year.

With this, Cedfit earlier announced the implementation of “Bridge Courses” program that is expected to arrest the continuing shortage of good software engineers in Cebu.

This program is specifically designed by Cedfit in cooperation with its member-schools to supply the demand of 900 graduates per year who are qualified for employment.

This program is aimed at sustaining Cebu’s position as an IT hub, and developing the province’s strength in software development, said Cedfit executive director Bonifacio Belen.

Initially, there were six subject areas, which were actually pre-identified by the local industry players and these are;Oracle; Java; Microsoft.Net; IPv6; PHP Web Programming; and System’s Programming in C/C++.

Cebu's software development sector generates an average of US$60 million a year and is expected to double this year.

Few years back, Cedfit commissioned two surveys in order to fully achieve its mission and chart its own flagship projects. The first survey in 2002-2003, it showed that out of 2,200 IT graduates each year only about 300 are appropriately employed.

In the second survey, conducted in 2005-2006 period, it revealed that out of the 2,200 IT graduates about 600 are readily qualified for entry level employment.

Annually, an average of 3,000 students taking up IT related courses graduate from the different universities and colleges in Cebu. Unfortunately, many are not adequately prepared to serve the industry.

Already, industry players had expressed apprehensions on the scarcity of good software development engineers/programmers in Cebu prompting them to hire talents from all over Visayas.

The software industry in Cebu is estimated to need at least 1,000 to 1,500 software engineers/programmers a year. Part of the problem is the continuing exodus of good programmers going abroad.

As of end of December 2008, record showed that there are 5,000 software developers in Cebu, while the BPO industry in the province employs 22,000 workers.

Cedfit projected that job vacancies in IT-enabled services in Cebu are expected to reach at least 15 thousand, with increasing demand for software developers and IT engineers.