BPO jobs at risk to technological advancement

Jobs in the Philippines’ information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry are at risk amid further technological advancement, according to the World Bank.

“Progress in digital technologies and international competition increases the need to move to more high value-added, non-routine jobs” in the sector, the World Bank said in its “World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends” released on Thursday.

The multilateral lender noted that 85 percent of the IT-BPO industry’s revenues were being generated from jobs that were “intensive in routine cognitive tasks, with workers increasingly susceptible to automation.”

“Low wages will delay this process [automation] but are unlikely to halt it,” the World Bank warned.

At present, the voice sector, mainly comprised of call centers for customer service and technical support, made up 64 percent of industry revenues, the World Bank noted.