In general, the outsourcing and offshoring industry has been growing exponentially in the Philippines in the three decades since the advent of BPO or Business Process Outsourcing here in the early 1990s. Offshoring services have reportedly become the biggest contributor to economic growth among all domestic industries even back in 2015. Analysts have always seen its potential to overtake the value of remittances from Filipinos working overseas in terms of its contributions to the annual GDP. Over the years, firms also began adding multidisciplinary professional services to their portfolio to meet the demands of modern businesses. As the outsourcing and offshoring industries continue to thrive, here are reasons to look to the Philippines for staffing support:
1. The Philippines is an outsourcing powerhouse
In their 2020 report, the Tholons Global Innovation Index™ ranked the Philippines sixth in its Top 50 Digital Nations list. The index listed base indicators for countries to rank as an attractive destination, including quality of talent and skill set, and cost efficiency, among others. In the same report, Manila landed #4 in the Top 100 Super Cities List.
Although the industry also felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing both the country and its capital to slip several notches down in last year’s list, business analysts predict renewed gains in the Philippine as premium service providers incorporate homeworking set-ups, and cost-cutting measures are employed by foreign companies to ride out the economic downturn.
Despite COVID-19, the Philippines reported sustained annual growth due to the demand from industries like healthcare, e-commerce, retail, banking, and even IT, which surged in the latter part of 2020.
2. Language barrier is not a concern
Touted as the most Westernized of the Asian countries, the Philippines’ high proficiency in English is generally attributed to the Americans who introduced public education in the country. English is taught early on in school as one of the two official languages, along with Filipino (Tagalog). There is no language barrier meaning English-speaking clients will have no problem communicating or understanding their Filipino offshore staff. The Filipino English accent is considered very neutral and widely comprehensible, which is a major draw for international outsourcing clients needing offshore staff support.
3. Low cost, high output
There is a reason multinational companies like Google, Amazon, and even Facebook reportedly get their staffing support from the Philippines. Building an offshore team does not mean cheap labor. More accurately, it means getting high quality output for less cost—a smart business investment indeed. With a highly educated and talented workforce, the Philippines offers prime business solutions and offshore staffing at lower rates to sectors like IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management), healthcare (healthcare information management system or HIMS), marketing and digital creative services, administrative, human resources, finance and accounting, and support services like virtual assistants, and others.
4. Availability across time zones
As offshore workers are expected to roll out services 24 hours a day, the time difference between the client and the offshore team is not a problem when you have workers deployed in graveyard shifts and international holidays. No, you don’t need a time difference calculator to make things work! Whether it’s for day work or after-hours support, the benefits of the business solutions they offer to companies in any part of the world far outweigh qualms in outsourcing. Premium service providers in the Philippines are known to pay their staff well and provide extra compensation when they work after-hours in local setting to lessen staff turnover and assure business continuity.
5. Sound infrastructure
The Philippine outsourcing industry is backed by modern infrastructure not just in Metro Manila. Provinces like Cebu and Ilolo have both emerged as hotspots for IT-BPM, one of the best-performing and employment-generating sectors in the past few years. A rapidly developing connectivity infrastructure that includes fiber internet assures accessibility and seamless business. Premium outsourcing and offshoring service providers invest in technologies and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to deliver superior quality work.