BPO sector hailed for job generation

By LEN VELASCO, Reporter

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hailed Cagayan de Oro as among the top ten “New Wave Cities” in terms of job generation in information and technology (IT) sector.
This is despite reports that small players in the city’s call center industry are losing their employees due to aggressive poaching by dominant players in the business process outsourcing industries of Cebu and Manila.

The President said that in developing the BPO sector, her administration invested in strategic digital infrastructure, formulated the appropriate policy, created the legal environment, and developed human capital.
“Today, my administration has already created 500,000 jobs in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and they are part of the legacy I will leave behind when I steps down this June, after nine years of steering the country to progress,” President Arroyo said.

The President, who is visiting the top 10 next-wave for ICT-BPO investments as part of her cyber-corridor tour, said the employment in the ICT-BPO industry surged from 2,400 in 2000 to 446,000 in 2009 with the Philippines becoming a “global powerhouse in the BPO industry.”

The potential for the country’s ICT-BPO industry remained strong with investors seeking higher value services including offshoring and outsourcing of accounting, legal, medical, personnel and administration services, according to the President.
The President has visited the country’s co-called Cyber Corridor last week and hailed colleges and university for offering courses for call center agents.
She noted that the city has great potentials for ICT because of its vast resource of proficient students.

The Cyber Corridor, identified and periodically updated by the private sector, the academe and government, was originally confined to Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.
Over the years, it has expanded so much that it now includes ten ‘’New Wave Cities, notably Metro Laguna, Metro Cavite, Metro Pampanga, Metro Bulacan, Central Bulacan, Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City, Lipa, Metro Laguna, and Iloilo.
“From $24 million in 2001, our BPO industry has grown to earn $7.3 billion in 2009, not far behind India’s $9 billion,” the President said.

In a news report last week, Engr. Elpidio Paras, owner of the Arriba Telecontact Inc., has said small firms have become training grounds for talents who eventually move to bigger companies for higher pay, particularly in Metro Manila and Cebu.
“Bigger companies are willing and ready to offer very huge incentives and salary packages, including contract signing bonuses and financial assistance for their relocation. These attractive packages are something that we cannot afford,” said Paras.

“Good and skilled people are being poached. These are people in whom we have already invested money for training and skills improvement. After they are armed with the necessary tools, they leave us in exchange for better pay…and we could not afford the high cost of counter-poaching,” Paras added.

Small companies here have been forced to shut down their operations largely due to loss of human resources. That Cagayan de Oro City is located in Mindanao has turned off potential investors, according to Eliza Pabillore, director of the Department of Trade and Industry for Misamis Oriental.

The President however said she also encouraged the establishment of broadband services in cities and identified growth areas; created the Commission on ICT, which is guided by the market with minimal government interference; and invested in technical education and skills development by providing schools with computers and Internet connection.

‘’We invested in technical, vocational, and skills training three times more than that of three previous administrations combined. A very large portion of this investment went to scholarships for call center training,’’ she said.