IBPAP cautiously optimistic for IT-BPM sector in 2026

The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) is cautiously optimistic that the industry will achieve revenue and headcount growth this year despite continued uncertainty.

IBPAP President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan R. Madrid said there was a challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic climate in 2025, which may have affected investor confidence and appetite for expansion.

“We will continue to see some of that uncertainty as we begin 2026, but I can say that we are cautiously optimistic about another positive year of growth for the Philippine information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry,” Mr. Madrid told reporters on Wednesday.

In 2025, he said that the industry was able to achieve a 5% growth in export revenues to over USD 40 billion and a 4% growth in headcount to 1.9 million.

These figures, he said, are consistent with the baseline targets set under the industry’s roadmap.

While he did not share exact targets for 2026, Mr. Madrid said: “I’ll be happy if we did that (5% growth in revenues and 4% growth in headcount).”

“But you have to remember that we are coming from a bigger base and the bigger your starting base, the harder it is to maintain,” he added.

Under the roadmap, the baseline targets for 2026 are USD 42 billion in revenues and 1.97 million in headcount.

Mr. Madrid said that he expects global capability centers (GCCs), such as JPMorgan Chase, to drive the sector’s growth this year.

“I see this as a particularly positive growth because the GCCs have been amazingly successful and are growing very fast in India. They have over 1,800 GCCs there,” he said.

“Of course, India is a much bigger country with a bigger population, but we are actually positioned very well to be a very strong second to India in terms of GCCs. We have about 160 GCCs in the country now,” he added.

Mr. Madrid said growth is expected in the financial services, insurance, and healthcare sectors.

“But we will continue to see the GCC segment grow in 2026. In fact, I think it will continue to outpace the overall growth rate of the IT-BPM sector,” he added.

Challenges

Mr. Madrid said that the industry continues to struggle with the ease of doing business and the availability of employable talent.

“We have to remember that the majority of our industry is composed of foreign investors who have decided on the Philippines to set up their operations,” he said.

Mr. Madrid said investors are banking on the Philippines to deliver on its promise of a good business environment, which includes “investment incentives, a good business environment, availability of talent, good workspace, and last but not least, a competitive cost structure.”

“If we do not meet the expectations of our investors, justifying their decision to establish operations in the Philippines, then that would be a challenge,” he added.

Mr. Madrid said another challenge is to find employable talent as jobs in the IT-BPM sector continue to evolve. From simple and almost exclusively voice-based services, tasks now are more complicated and complex.

“That is why talent development and upskilling continue to be one of the biggest investments that our members make,” he said.

Before a worker in the industry becomes productive, the worker goes through a minimum of two weeks of training.

Mr. Madrid estimated the industry invests around P1.4 billion in talent development annually. This is an area where the government could also offer its support for the industry, he added.

“We have to remember that it is no longer just India and the Philippines. In the past decades, new IT-BPM destinations have emerged. And they are aiming to capture some of the market share of the Philippines,” he said.

“Countries like Egypt, Poland, South Africa, Vietnam, Malaysia, Colombia, South America, and Costa Rica are some of the destinations that global companies go to,” he added.

These destinations, he said, offer various advantages, including complementary time zones and Spanish-speaking agents, among others.

“The good news is, India and the Philippines continue to be the major players, and it should be our collective objective to protect and retain that market share,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter