EDITORIAL - Jobs, but no workers

An India-based outsourcing firm is setting up shop in Metro Manila. The Cybernet-Slash Support facility in Bonifacio Global City will provide multilingual customer and technology support to complement its operations in India, the United States and Poland. This is just the latest development showing that despite global economic woes, business process outsourcing remains robust in the Philippines.

When even the Indians are outsourcing their operations to the Philippines, it bodes well for our BPO sector. The news is particularly encouraging in a year of recession, when hundreds of thousands of workers are expected to lose their jobs domestically and overseas. There is only one problem: BPO companies are struggling to find qualified Filipino workers.

A research think-tank of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Universal Access to Competitiveness and Trade, reported that BPOs hire only 6 to 10 percent of applicants for entry-level jobs. The applicants are graduates of Philippine colleges and universities but fail to meet requirements particularly in English proficiency.

BPO executives are not the first to lament that they cannot find enough qualified workers in this country. Other investors in various industries have made the same complaint in recent years. There are two reasons for this. One is the continuing exodus of the country’s skilled workers and professionals for jobs overseas. The brain drain has left the country with an acute lack not just of English-proficient graduates, experienced engineers, mechanics and tech support personnel but also workers who deliver basic public services such as teachers and health professionals. The second reason is the slide in the quality of Philippine education, which authorities have been trying to reverse, though progress has been slow.

BPOs typically offer good pay and many Filipino graduates like the idea that they can get decent salaries without needing to leave their families and their country. The study on the BPO sector is just the latest reminder that more effort must be made to address the growing lack of qualified workers. Even amid a global economic meltdown, job opportunities are opening up in the Philippines. It would be a shame if the country fails to grab those opportunities.