Two-thirds of the business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the Philippines plan to expand their workforces next year despite the global economic slowdown, as businesses in developed countries are expected to farm out some of their operations to cheaper locations, a recent survey showed.

The survey on the 2009 business prospects of the Philippine BPO industry, done in November with 190 respondents, showed the bulk of the growth would be in “non-voice” services, a departure from traditional call center services.

According to the survey results, 65 percent of BPOs expect to expand their workforces next year by a low of 16 percent to a high of 200 percent.

The more conservative respondents said they would either keep their existing workforces or limit expansion to 15 percent.

The results belie fears about a slowdown in the industry as overseas clients face tougher business environments in their home countries.

Nonetheless, the head of the local BPO lobby group urged companies to continue moving their services up the value chain.

“Although the outlook is overwhelmingly positive for the Philippine non-voice BPO sectors, the results show that we must be relentless in developing human resources to meet global demand,” said Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) chief executive Oscar Sañez.

“Fortunately, we have multiple initiatives in play to address this issue, including close partnerships with major educational institutions, government-funded training for industry near hires, and a vibrant private-sector that is responding aggressively to the need to quickly develop qualified personnel for the BPO industry by providing innovative training opportunities,” he added.

In the BPA/P-commissioned survey, respondents acknowledged that impediments to growth were present.

Chief among those threats is finding qualified personnel, with 63 percent of respondents saying availability of qualified workers is the biggest impediment to growth.

Of these respondents, 51 percent described recruitment of qualified personnel as “moderately difficult,” 26 percent said “difficult,” and 11 percent said “very difficult.”

Another impediment to growth would be the impact of the global financial crisis on the industry, according to 44 percent of non-voice BPO respondents, while another 43 percent said rising competition would also pose a problem next year.

A BPA/P statement said optimism among BPO firms “is apparent regardless of size and sector,” with most organizations expecting to expand their workforce significantly.

“This was true even among the largest non-voice services providers in the Philippines,” the group said. With editing by INQUIRER.net