The business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is expected to generate as many as 160,000 new jobs in 2009, the head of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) said.

CICT chairman Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III said that despite the global economic downturn, he still expected an additional 120,000-160,000 jobs this year from an estimated 400,000 generated in 2008 ? an increase of 30-40 percent ? because of expansion of BPO activities in the Philippines.

He said that in 2007 BPO workers increased to around 300,000 from 220,000 in 2006, an increase of about 36 percent.

?Growth this year might be a little less than last year but we are still expecting good growth,? Roxas-Chua said. ?As you get bigger, it?s harder to keep growing at a particular level.?

The target of one million jobs by 2010 would be ?difficult to reach,? Roxas-Chua said. ?But revenues are on target. That means BPO workers are getting paid more per employee, and that BPO firms are shifting to higher value services.?

Oscar Sañez of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines said that by 2010, BPO industry revenues could reach $12-$13 billion. With editing by INQUIRER.net