The Philippines remains to be a reliable investment destination for information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) companies, also known as BPO firms, amid the challenging business environment brought by the pandemic and the rise of new technologies, the country’s trade chief said on Friday, Sept. 4.
“You talk about IT-BPM, we still have a clear and good advantage given the quality of manpower that we have. We are still the ‘go-to guy’ when it comes to IT-BPM despite the [advances in] technology,” said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Ramon Lopez during the 28th Metro Manila Business Conference.
Lopez said that despite the growth in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), there would still be a need for people to run the machines.
“Yes there are machines that can aid BPOs, but what we have to do is get all these new technologies for greater efficiencies and lowering the cost of IT-BPM service,” he added.
Lopez said IT-BPM firms should focus on upskilling their workforce as new technologies such as AI are changing the nature of jobs needed by the industry.
“What it means also is that you will have to upskill and level up the kind of jobs that we will have to develop to be able to service all these technologies around us,” said Lopez.
Data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority showed that from January to July 2020, registered investments from the IT-BPM sector grew 37 percent to P11.4 billion amid the global health crisis. — Kris Crismundo (PNA)
