IT-BPM industry registers 19% growth in revenue

The Philippine information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry posted a 19-percent growth in export revenues last year to $13.2 billion.

Jomari Mercado, president and CEO of the Information Technology and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said that last year’s revenue was well “within the level required to keep the industry on track to hit its accelerated revenue target of $25 billion by 2016.”

As of end-2012, the industry employed a total of 776,794, representing a 21-percent growth from the 137,066 jobs recorded in 2011.

“This number keeps us on target to reach 1.3 million in employment by 2016,” Mercado said in a statement.

“To reach our 2016 targets, we reiterate that it is imperative that we sustain and strengthen the work we are doing with government. We have received impressive support from President Aquino and his teams in the executive branch and we were able to pass key legislation needed by the industry.”

IBPAP said it would continue to work closely with various government agencies and local governments.

According to data culled by IBPAP and its partner associations, the healthcare information management (HIM) sector had the largest increase in employment.

The Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines reported an employment figure of 45,000—80 percent more employees in 2012. Revenue also increased rapidly by 66 percent to $460 million.

Game Developers Association of the Philippines reported that the sector increased more than three times in terms of revenue to $50 million last year from the previous year’s $14 million. Its workforce totaled 3,500 in 2012.

The Contact Center Association of the Philippines reported that employment grew by 19 percent, ending the year with a total of 497,000 employees. Revenue also grew at a healthy pace of 18 percent, earning $8.7 billion in revenue in 2012.

The Philippine contact center sector is still the largest in the world and remains the destination of choice for customer relations management, IBPAP said.