BPO Philippines: A Brief History

Notwithstanding the political atmosphere  wherein credit is being grabbed from the construction of highways that were really planned in the late 1940s to the early 1950s and implemented in the late 60s and early 70s to who is to blame for the cracked rails in the MRT, it would be an oasis in the middle of parched rice fields to have some factual explanation on a hotly contested industry sector. The Business Process Outsourcing sector.

So instead of just taking statements from candidates, let us take it from those who really deserve credit such as Mr. Rainier Borja,  Karen Batungbacal and even Bill Gates who donated Microsoft Apps Licenses to the PCPS Program to get the Philippine BPO Industry rolling:

Hereunder is a brief history of the Philippine BPO Industry:
*Source: Rappler.com

1992 - Frank Holz, under the Accenture group, created the first contact center in the Philippines 

1995 - The Philippine Congress passed the Special Economic Zone Act, lowering area requirements for development and offering tax incentives to attract more foreign investors 

1997 - Sykes Asia set up shop and becomes the first multinational BPO company in the Philippines 

1999 - Jim Franke and Derek Holley found eTelecare, more popularly known as the first call center in the country
2000 - The BPO industry accounted for 0.075% of the country’s GDP 

2001 - PeopleSupport, a US-Based outsourcing center, restructured their business, and moved their operations to the Philippines, providing 8,400 jobs 

2003 - The Convergys Corp. opened up two call centres in the Philippines. The Philippines, along with India, was chosen by then president of the company, Jack Freker, as part of the company’s global expansion and revenue generation plan 

2005 - The Philippines gained 3% of the global BPO market, which accounted for 2.4% of the country’s GDP 

2006 - ePLDT Ventus was at the forefront of the local BPO landscape 

•This improved the Philippine domestic economy by 5.4%
•11,000 people were employed across North America, Europe, and Asia 

2010 - The Philippines was declared the world’s BPO capital!
•525,000 employees in call centres
•$8.9 Billion in revenue generated
•Revenues are expected to soar with a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38%
•The country continues to become an attractive location for foreign investor 

2011 – The BPO industry becomes one of the biggest and fastest growing job providers in the private sector 

•$11B revenue generated and 638,000 Filipinos employed
•Revenue comprised 4.9% of country’s total GDP

2012 - The BPO industry grows even further
•BPO industry grew by 46% annually since 2006
•Revenue comprised 5.4% of the country’s total GDP

2013 - Revenue generated climbs up further to $15.5B and 900,000 Filipinos are employed full time 

2016 - BPO industry is projected to generate 1.3M new jobs, with 17% annual growth 

Of course there was the revision of Republic Act 7916, so that buildings or floors in buildings could register as an ecozone. That meant that the budding BPO industries were exempt from paying national and local taxes, and only had to contribute 5% of their gross income as tax. That was an incentive that led to further growth of the industry. Tech Blade leaves it to the reader to research who authored the revision of the law lest we be accused of campaigning for a candidate