THE IT-BPM industry is on track to reach 1.7 million full-time employees (FTEs) by the end of 2023, despite the industry having “more demanding” job requirements for job seekers and graduates, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) President Jack Madrid said on Wednesday.

“We started with 2023 with 1.57 million and I would say that we are on track to touch 1.7 million by the end of 2023,” Madrid said in a televised interview on Wednesday.

Based on the IT-BPM Roadmap 2028, the industry is eyeing to provide jobs to 2.5 million full-time employees by the end of 2028. By 2023, the IT-BPM industry expects to reach 1.7 FTEs and US$35.9 billion in revenue.

With the industry’s goal of attaining the said employment target for the year, however, Madrid explained the issue on demand-supply talent gap that the IT-BPM currently faces.

“The reason for the gap is that there really is a very big demand curve, that’s one. Second, the supply of employable talents in this increasingly competitive job market is not quite enough. And the second reason that I want to cite is that while we have almost 800,000 college graduates, there is a skills gap that has resulted in a job skills mismatch,” the IBPAP head explained.

On top of these, Madrid emphasized that the job requirements of the industry are becoming “more demanding” as the industry is also becoming more diverse.

Madrid said what used to be a “one-dimensional” customer service voice-based phone call has now matured and diversified into a “more diverse set of industry verticals.”

According to the IBPAP head, the industry spans all kinds of financial services including Insurance. Moreover, he divulged, “We are now the second health care provider in the world, being the second largest supplier of US-certified nurses.”

“So even within healthcare, there is health finance, there is care management, there is remote patient monitoring, there is pharmacovigilance, there are many many services even within healthcare alone. Not to mention the creative industry such as game development and animation,” said Madrid.

With this development within the industry, Madrid debunked the myth that the IT-BPM industry is about “simply answering repetitive phone calls,” adding that it has “matured well beyond that.”

However, Madrid pointed out that this means the skills required of the job seekers and university graduates will also be “more complex” on top of the basics such as comprehension, communication, and critical thinking.

To address the talent gap, the IBPAP head cited the industry’s initiatives which include working with its partners in the government.

“Our primary job is to communicate the need and the types of skills” required in the years ahead.

“And so, I think we have done that quite effectively. Second is to really initiate partnerships with government partners such as Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, of course the DepEd, and the DICT who all have ways and means as well as some scholarship funds that are urgently needed to address the talent supply gap and also to update and modernize curriculum for future job seekers to meet this more complex job requirements,” Madrid said.

Image credits: PITON-Global



IT-BPM jobs on track to reach 1.7M by yearend
Source: News Paper Radio