BPO industry beats targets

The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry exceeded its 2022 growth targets a year early, creating 120,000 new jobs back when the government still allowed most BPO employees to work from home (WFH) without risking company tax breaks.

But to sustain its growth prospects, the industry needs a law that will let BPOs work largely from home and still keep their tax breaks, said the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

IBPAP said on Wednesday that the industry had hired 120,000 new employees in 2021, up 9.1-percent from 2020. This brought the total head count to 1.44 million. It delivered $29.49 billion in revenue last year, a 10.6-percent jump from the prior year.

The industry had previously targeted to have 1.43 million workers by the end of 2022, while making $29.1 billion in revenue.

For the past two years, the government retained BPO tax breaks while allowing WFH arrangements for 90 percent of employees. But since April, the Duterte administration stopped giving incentives to BPOs which refuse to return to office.

Legislative quest

IBPAP will soon publish an industry road map up to 2028.

“Foremost among these imperatives is legislation that will allow the long-term implementation of hybrid work given its rapid adoption in competing locations such as India, Poland, and Malaysia,” it said.

Other than a higher global demand and growth in emerging segments like e-commerce, IBPAP said its performance last year also reflected a “higher confidence in WFH setups.” About 60 percent of industry employees worked from home as of end-2021.