The Philippine Outsourcing industry has grown steadily and gained international recognition in recent years. As we step into 2024, it's clear that the industry is thriving due to technological advancements, government incentives, and a diverse workforce.
From offering traditional call center services, Philippine BPO has come a long way, now offering services in IT, finance, healthcare, and creative services. It has also since grown in market share, and is one of the fastest-growing BPO markets available today.
A Quick View of Philippine BPO in 2023
The best way to understand the state of Philippine outsourcing is by looking at the latest data. Below is an industry report containing the latest Philippine outsourcing statistics that will shape the BPO industry in the Philippines in the coming years.
Continuous Rise in Market Value
The Philippine BPO industry is a rapidly growing market. With APAC as the fastest-growing market in global outsourcing, and the Philippines as one of the countries leading this development, the latest outsourcing statistics project that the Philippine BPO market, which was worth $35.4 billion in 2023 will grow to $37.87 billion in 2024 with a 7% CAGR.
With this steady growth, Philippine BPO, which contributed to the 6-7% growth in the Philippines services sector, is likely to continue driving economic growth for the country in the coming years.
English Proficiency & Skilled Labor
There are approximately 350,000 Filipino college graduates each year. This makes the Philippines a competitive outsourcing destination, with a larger pool of suitable labor for multinational companies compared to other developing countries.
The Philippines is the 3rd largest English-speaking country in the world. Also, based on the 2023 Global Ranking of Countries and Regions on English Proficiency, the Philippines ranked 20th globally for English Proficiency with a score of 578, indicating high English proficiency. In Asia, the Philippines ranked 2nd for English Proficiency, coming after Singapore who has a score of 678.
Cost of Labor
The average cost of labor in the Philippines is lower than most other outsourcing destinations in APAC. According to this report by Numbeo, the average monthly salary in the Philippines in USD is $373.83, while it’s $621.74 in India, $853.47 in Malaysia, $923.21 in China, and $4,401.5 in Singapore.
Philippine Outsourcing Rankings by Industry-Sector
Based on the 2023 data gathered by KDCI Outsourcing, the largest industry that outsources their business processes to the Philippines is Design & Marketing with a 30% market share. This is followed by Retail & E-commerce with 14% market share, Consulting & Business services at 11%, tech & IT at 9%, health services at 8%, and finance & accounting at 6%.
Most Outsourced Business Processes in the Philippines (2023)
In a 2023 survey of 143 companies interested in outsourcing to the Philippines, KDCI Outsourcing found that 39.2% were looking to outsource customer service, making it the most in-demand outsourced business process. Among customer service processes, the most in-demand are voice-related services such as phone support.
Next is design & marketing services, at 37%, followed by E-commerce services at 16.1%, finance & accounting services at 3.5%, and lastly, back office functions at 1.4%.
Philippine BPO By Geo-location
The largest BPO population in the Philippines is in Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Meanwhile, 30% of BPO workers are based outside of Metro Manila. Within Metro Manila, majority of BPOs are based in central business districts like Ortigas Center in Pasig, Eastwood City in Quezon City, Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, and Makati.
After Metro Manila, the city with the largest BPO population is Cebu City, followed by Clark Freeport Zone, Davao City, Bacolod City, and Iloilo City, respectively.
Philippines: A Leading Global Outsourcing Destination
The Philippines holds 10-15% of the global BPO Market. Also, over 1.3 million Filipinos are employed in over 1000 BPO companies. This makes the Philippines the 2nd leading outsourcing destination globally, with driving factors such as high English proficiency, excellent customer service, BPO-friendly infrastructure, and cultural affinity to North-American culture.
Globally, the Philippines ranks 4th as the most financially attractive outsourcing destination.
In Asia, the Philippines is 1 of the 3 most prominent contributors to the growth of APAC for IT Outsourcing.
Biggest Philippine Outsourcing Trends In 2024
While outsourcing statistics give a snapshot of the state of Philippine BPO, it doesn’t paint a picture of its future. To help with this, KDCI Outsourcing industry experts with decades of BPO experience provide input on the likely developments for BPO in the Philippines.
Technological Integration
2023 saw the boom of automation. Tools like robotic processing automation (RPA), AI, and cloud computing are transforming the way we work, with many companies now utilizing some form of AI to optimize their workforce, and many more are looking into streamlining their business services using AI.
For BPO companies in the Philippines, this means embracing technological advancements and adapting quickly to the evolving digital landscape in order to meet the changing needs of their clients.
Upskilling
As BPO in the Philippines adopts technologies that would streamline business processes, roles in BPO that engage in repetitive work like data entry, customer service, and other back-office functions will be displaced in the coming years.
However, this transformation also brings new opportunities, as businesses will need employees skilled in managing and overseeing automation technologies like RPA and AI, handling more complex problem-solving tasks, and providing higher-level strategic analysis.
Consequently, BPOs will invest in upskilling their workforce to fill these new roles, ensuring staff can navigate tech integrations effectively and maintain competitiveness in an evolving market
New Business Models
WIth the evolving nature of business services comes new business models. Traditional FTE-based business models that have dominated the Philippine BPO industry for decades will soon be replaced by more flexible volume-based models.
For organizations that outsource, this means greater flexibility, more control over cost, and higher scalability. These will help future-proof businesses to adapt to rapidly changing business demands.
Flexible Work Setups
After Covid-19, 70% of Philippine BPOs have already implemented some form of remote work arrangement, while 50% considered hybrid setups. Such flexibility brought forth benefits such as cost savings, enhanced productivity, and ability hire from a larger talent pool.
Given the volatility of the current economy, companies are looking for low-cost options that would help them remain competitive. As such, this trend is likely to continue moving forward, with BPO companies becoming increasingly more flexible in their work arrangements.
Outsource to the Philippines
As seen in the 2023 Philippine outsourcing statistics and outsourcing trends, 2024 will likely see continuing growth for the Philippine BPO industry, with rapid developments in technology shaping the way outsourcing companies operate their businesses and stay competitive in a large BPO market.
Cost reduction, English proficiency, and a large skilled workforce will continue to drive business into Philippine BPO and more Filipino talent will be joining the outsourcing industry to meet the growing demand in the industry.
In order to remain competitive, more and more companies are turning to outsourcing for low-cost and low-risk solutions. Here are the top BPO companies in the Philippines with excellent track record of providing high quality outsourcing services.
Do you want to learn more about outsourcing to the Philippines? Contact us today!
