IT-BPM industry likely to hit 7% goal

 The information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry is on track to achieve a 7% growth in revenue and headcount by the end of 2024, an industry group said.

Jack Madrid, president of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), told reporters on Wednesday that the industry anticipates around 6.5-7.5% growth in headcount and revenue in 2024.

“In the next 60 to 90 days we will have a much clearer picture of the 2024 performance, but from all indications, I think it’s safe to say we will grow around 7% for both headcount and revenue,” he said in an online briefing.

However, Mr. Madrid noted that achieving 7% growth this year meant the industry would only be hitting the “baseline scenario” and not the aggressive targets set under the IT-BPM Industry Roadmap 2028.

The industry ended 2023 with 1.7 million direct jobs and USD 35.5 billion in export revenues. It is projected to hit 1.84 million in headcount and USD 40 billion in revenues in 2024 under the roadmap.

If the 7% growth projection is achieved, the industry will end the year with 1.82 million in headcount and around USD 38 billion in revenues.

“In our roadmap projections, we have three different scenarios: the aggressive scenario, the baseline scenario, which is in the middle, and the constrained scenario, which is the most conservative,” Mr. Madrid said. “What we are confident to achieve, obviously, are the baseline scenarios.”

Under the roadmap, the industry is targeting to reach 2.5 million jobs and generate USD 59 billion in revenues by 2028.

Asked why the industry is optimistic about achieving its growth targets, Mr. Madrid said the demand for Filipino IT-BPM workers remains strong.

“The number one reason is the same: there is still a very high demand for the Filipino workforce to continue delivering global business services to our global customers,” he said.

Mr. Madrid said that cost optimization in global companies is also driving the demand for outsourcing.

“Offshoring and outsourcing are ways to address cost optimization, so delivering more work from the Philippines or India still represents a way of cost optimization for global or North American customers,” he said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas projects service exports to grow to USD 55.1 billion and USD 60.5 billion in 2024 and 2025, respectively, while it projects business process outsourcing revenues to grow 7% annually in 2024 and 2025.

“We are a world capital in the IT-BPM industry, which is why when our global customers decide where to offshore, they will always choose between India and the Philippines and maybe some other options outside of India and the Philippines,” Mr. Madrid said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile