IT-BPO job growth continues to rise

CEBU, Philippines – More workers are needed in the call center industry in Central Visayas specifically in Cebu, one of the top global outsourcing destinations.

Department of Labor and Employment Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga said there are no signs of slowing down seen for the information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector where call center services belong.

The IT-BPO is one of the robust sectors in the Philippines now.

"Much is still to be desired in terms of workers needed for the call center industry," Sarcauga said in an interview.

The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) has a target to grow the industry's workforce to 1.2 million this year after hitting 1.03 million in 2014. The industry is also targeting a $25-billion revenue by 2016.

In an earlier interview, National Economic and Development Authority Regional Director Efren Carreon said the demand for IT-BPO services in the region specifically in Cebu continues to rise.

In terms of employment potential, Carreon said that one advantage that Filipinos have is their natural ability to speak English.

Sarcauga said the Labor department has embarked on a new scheme to boost the workforce supply in the industry.

This scheme is called JobStart, a career coaching and skills training program intended to help young people jumpstart their careers by creating opportunities to improve their technical and life skills through partnerships with employers.

A JobStart forum was held in Cebu City last week, which gathered local employer partners of DOLE.

The JobStart program, which has funding from the Canadian government and technical aid from Asian Development Bank, allows a participant to be assessed for his or her job readiness, and then provided with a 10-day intensive life skills training aimed to make him or her well-prepared for the world of work.

The Labor agency said the completion of career guidance and life skills training enable the participant to be job-matched with a partner employer for technical training of up to three months and internship for another three months.

Sarcauga said that when the program was rolled out in Cebu recently, many of the employers who committed to become its partners are from the call center industry.

This shows that the industry continuously needs more workers, he said.

With JobStart, the government hopes to reduce the unemployment rate, which remains a pressing challenge, considering that almost half of the country's unemployed are young Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old.

In Central Visayas, employment rate went up to 94.4% as of July this year from 94.1% in July this year. The jobless rate went down to 5.6% as of July 2015 from 5.9%. While underemployment remains high at 20.8% as of July.

Carreon said the growth of the regional economy had a positive impact on the labor market, adding, though, that more jobs are needed.

Sarcauga said: "It's not easy to maintain that level of unemployment rate (5.6%) because you know for a fact that everyday, somebody joins the labor force."

The labor official claimed it's a challenge both for the government and the business sector to provide the much-needed jobs for the economy. (FREEMAN)