...the PH improved world talent ranking

Philippines up 6 notches in world talent ranking

Louella Desiderio
Philippine Star 
19 November 2019

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines was among 63 countries that posted the biggest climb in the latest World Talent Ranking (WTR) report of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), as it rose six places to 49th place from 51st last year.

The country remained the laggard however, among Southeast countries.

Released in partnership with the Asian Institute of Management Rizalino S. Navarro Policy Center for Competitiveness in the Philippines, the WTR looks at countries’ ability to attract, develop and retain an employable talent pool.

The other countries which posted the biggest improvements are Taiwan, which went up seven places to 20th; Lithuania, which rose eight notches to 28th; and Colombia which advanced six places to 54th.

While the Philippines’ ranking improved in this year’s report, it was still behind its peers in the region.

All other Southeast Asian countries included in the report had better rankings than the Philippines such as Singapore (10th), Malaysia (22nd), Indonesia (41st), and Thailand (43rd).

In ranking countries, the WTR looked at three factors such as investment and development, appeal and readiness, and took into account responses to IMD’s executive opinion survey.

In the investment and development factor which measures funds poured in, as well as development of domestic human resources, the Philippines ranked 61st, up from the 62nd spot last year.

“This represents a one-place improvement from 2018, but this factor has consistently ranked in the 60s. Its low rank was mostly driven by pupil-teacher ratio in primary and secondary education and public expenditure on education per student,” IMD said.

As for the appeal factor, which looks at the ability to attract and retain high-quality talent from abroad, the Philippines rose to 31st place from 38th a year ago.

IMD said the highest ranked indicators for the Philippines under the appeal factor were cost of living and effective personal income tax rate, while the lower ranked ones were quality of life, justice, and brain drain.

When it comes to the readiness factor which assessed the quality and growth of the existing talent pool, the country placed 26th, 11 places higher than the previous year’s 37th.

“The relatively higher rank of the readiness factor was mostly driven by indicators on skilled labor, language skills, and share of science graduates among college degree holders,” IMD said.

Switzerland continued to top the WTR, strengthening its position as a global talent hub.

This was followed by Denmark in second place, and Sweden on the third spot. Mongolia, on the other hand, was at the bottom of the list or 63rd place.

...the falling poverty in PH

PH poverty rate seen falling below 20% starting 2020

Ben O. De Vera

Inquirer.net

16 October 2019

Amid easing inflation and rising incomes, the World Bank expects poverty rate in the Philippines to fall below 20 percent starting next year.

In its Macro Poverty Outlook for East Asia and the Pacific report, the World Bank projected poverty incidence in the Philippines at 20.8 percent by the end of 2019, down from 26 percent in 2015, the latest comparable full-year date from the Philippine government.

The report was released this week on the sidelines of the Washington-based lender’s annual meeting.

The World Bank had estimated poverty incidence in the Philippines at 24.5 percent for 2016, 23.1 percent for 2017 and 21.9 percent for 2018.

Its medium-term poverty projections were based on the lower middle-income poverty line of $3.20 per day.

At that threshold, the World Bank sees the Philippines’ poverty rate further declining to 19.8 percent next year and 18.7 percent in 2021.

“Despite a temporary growth slowdown in the first half of 2019, progress on shared prosperity is likely to continue,” it said.

Partial estimates of the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey showed that incomes of households in lower-income deciles grew at a much faster pace than the average, the World Bank report read.

“Meanwhile, cash transfer schemes from the government will continue to help cushion the impact of negative shocks. Given the continuous expansion of nonagriculture wage employment, rising real wage, continuation of social programs, and stabilizing inflation, the declining trend in poverty is likely to continue,” it added.

In a report last month, the World Bank said the 12-year-old conditional cash transfer scheme called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) slashed the nationwide poverty rate by 1.2-1.5 percentage points (ppt) between 2012 and 2015.

4Ps also reduced income inequality by 0.5-0.6 ppt in the same period, it said.

...the Asia's Top best Employer Brands

Home Credit Philippines named as one of Asia's Top 100 Best Employer Brands




Manila Bulletin
01 October 2019

Home Credit Philippines was distinguished as one of the Top 100 Best Employer Brands in Asia for 2019-2020 by the Employer Branding Institute and World HRD Congress at the 10th Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards. 

Held last August 15, 2019 at the Pan Pacific, Singapore, the Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards recognizes leading organizations within the region that have effectively built its employer brand through exemplary human resource initiatives and practices. 

This is the first time Home Credit Philippines has been awarded by the said award-giving body.

Alpha Omega Aquino, SHRM-SCP, Home Credit Philippines’ Head of Talent Acquisition, proudly dedicated the organization’s success to its people. “This [award] is for our more than 5 million customers in the Philippines and our 12,000 employees, who are our own brand ambassadors.”

...the OFWs in UAE

OFWs boost UAE’s economy


William Depasupil
The Manila Times
21 September 2019


Eon Insight: Focus on the Filipino in the UAE, revealed highly skilled Filipinos are now represented across all industries contributing to the country’s economy, with 64 percent of Filipino workers being college graduates and 6.7 percent holding post-graduate degrees.

A large number of overseas Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who are professionals and highly skilled workers, are employed in industries and economic activities that fuel the Emirates’ engine of growth and hub of economic activities, a recent study by a communications firm showed.

The study, released on Tuesday by EON Group, showed there are now more than 750,000 Filipino workers across the seven-state UAE, namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.

Photo: filipinotimes.net

“We are very proud of our relationship with the UAE thus far and we continue to be optimistic that our people to people exchanges and our economic ties will even deepen as the years go on,” Paul Raymund Cortes, Philippine consul general in Dubai and Northern Emirates, said.

“Our ties with the UAE are one of our most strategic relationships, be it trade, cultural and human relationship,” he added.

The study, titled Eon Insight: Focus on the Filipino in the UAE, revealed highly skilled Filipinos are now represented across all industries contributing to the country’s economy, with 64 percent of Filipino workers being college graduates and 6.7 percent holding post-graduate degrees.

It is the first ever study into the contribution of the Filipino community in the UAE. The study sought to understand the size, scale and contribution of the UAE’s third largest expatriate demographic.

According to the study, 62 percent of Filipinos surveyed could be found in sectors that are seen to contribute to UAE’s economic diversification and expansion.

The top 5 sectors they work in are architecture, engineering and construction (17 percent); tourism and hospitality (16 percent); customer service (13 percent); health and medical fields (10 percent); and marketing and advertising (8 percent).

An increasing number of Filipino workers are further providing semi-skilled and highly skilled labor, shifting away from low-skilled work areas. In job positions, 46 percent of Filipinos were in associate, supervisory and mid-senior level manager roles, according to the survey.

It also showed 37 percent of Filipinos earn at least AED 8,000 a month or roughly P112,000, with 20 percent earning AED 13,000 a month or P182,000.

Aside from the high demand for their skills, Filipinos workers, with their big salaries, also help boost economic activities in terms of spending habits.

According to the study, Fillipinos are big spenders, with 48 percent going to malls at least once or twice a month; with 45 percent willing to spend up to AED 50 for one meal and 16 percent willing to spend more than AED 80.

It added that the Filipino community in UAE has a long-term commitment, with Filipinos increasingly looking to invest and build deeper interlinked roots in the country.

The survey showed that 41.3 percent of Filipinos have been living in the UAE for two to five years and 37 percent for more than six years, while 31.5 percent plan to stay for another three to five years.

Survey data showed that their home country’s culture plays a key role in shaping Filipinos’ activities in the UAE like spending their free time participating in church activities such as Bible studies and community service programs.

The Filipino weekly Mass, held every Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai, sees an average weekly attendance of more than 2,000.

During the Christmas season, simbang gabi (midnight Mass), a Filipino tradition of daily masses over a nine-day period, has attendees between 30,000 and 35,000 per day.

Also, the social media connectivity and positive promotion of the UAE by the Filipino community there has contributed to the country being a top 10 destination for traveling compatriots.

It said Filipinos were an untapped force of marketing in the UAE as they are constantly connected online.

...the OFWs contribution in GCC

Why GCC would not be the same without Filipinos

By Dr Jasim Ali,
Special to Gulf News
First Published:  May 24, 2014

 

"Much to their credit, OFWS have made the first impression with respect to working habits and ethics.

They are admired for possessing traits of productivity, discipline, customer service, attention to detail, and ease of communicating in English, and presentable.

It is not unfair to claim that Filipinos have emerged as a factor in local economic activities in all GCC countries. And it can be asserted that quality of life in the GCC cannot be the same without the OFWs on the back of their significant presence in diverse sectors."   - Dr. Jasim Ali, Member of Parliament, Bahrain

 

 

The Gulf countries are home to the largest number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and it’s an arrangement which benefits both sides. For instance, for the Philippines, the workers send home billions of dollars.
 

GCC airlines benefit from the traffic to the Philippines, with Emirates dominating the Manila route.

Fact is, a sizable number of Filipinos live and work abroad for economic reasons, with their number estimated at around 10.5 million and comprising around 11 per cent of the country’s total population. The stats include some 5 million permanently living abroad and about 1.5 million irregulars.
 

However, this piece focuses on OFWs, officially estimated at more than 2.2 million by end 2012, including some 0.45 million working on the high seas. Yet, thousands of Filipinos were exposed for overstaying their work permits following the implementation of the Nitaqat scheme in Saudi Arabia in July. The controversial project is meant to make Saudi nationals, rather than immigrant workers, employees of choice in the private sector.

 

Notably, five of the six Gulf countries are on the list of top 10 destinations for OFWs, an evidence of openness of the economies of the grouping.
 

Saudi Arabia continues to maintain its position as the top destination for OFWs, which has been the case since 2004, followed by the UAE. In 2012, Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounted for 20 and 16 per cent of OFWs, respectively. Qatar emerges in fourth popular place after Singapore in third position. Qatar alone boasts some 200,000 Filipinos.
 

Service workers
 

The increasing significance of Gulf countries for Filipinos partly reflects the changing composition of OFWs, with more emphasis placed on household services workers. Unlike the GCC, Western countries are known for applying relatively strict conditions on employment of live-in housemaids.
 

To a degree, the changing make up of OFWs is in response to difficulties surrounding employment in the Philippines. The challenges include an unemployment rate of 7 per cent, and under-employment of nearly 20 per cent. More than 40 per cent of the employed work in the informal sector.
 

The Philippines enticed some $24 billion (Dh88 billion) in remittances in 2012, the third highest worldwide after India and China, according to the World Bank. The amount represents around 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This sum is inclusive of money sent via financial institutions, cash carried by returning and visiting Filipinos and others in-kind.
 

The figure could be higher for the lifestyle of Filipinos, who are known to spend in the local economies. The habit of spending a considerable amount of their salaries in local markets adds to the attraction of having Filipinos in the GCC workforce.
 

Much to their credit, OFWS have made the first impression with respect to working habits and ethics.

They are admired for possessing traits of productivity, discipline, customer service, attention to detail, and ease of communicating in English, and presentable.
 

It is not unfair to claim that Filipinos have emerged as a factor in local economic activities in all GCC countries. And it can be asserted that quality of life in the GCC cannot be the same without the OFWs on the back of their significant presence in diverse sectors.
 

The writer is a Member of Parliament in Bahrain.

...the best manufacturing relocation site

Foreign firms seen relocating to Phl

 

 

By Louella D. Desiderio

The Philippine Star

April 13, 2014

 

 

 

MANILA, Philippines - Several foreign manufacturing companies operating in China and in Southeast Asian countries are eyeing to relocate to the Philippines citing the available high-quality labor here, the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) said.

In a statement from the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., FOBAP president Robert Young said two French investors are coming to Manila by the end of the month, while a number of Canadian, Chinese and American companies are visiting the country in mid-May to scout for investment opportunities.

Young said these are mid-sized manufacturers of garments, apparel, shoes, toys and housewares looking to invest around $500 million and employ 1,000 to 3,000 workers.

“These people are financially capable, they are ready, they mean business, they are serious... We are lucky if we get at least 10 initially from all parts of China and other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries,” he said.

Companies are moving out of China amid increasing labor unrest resulting in reduced labor pool, as well as higher capital costs.

The group is looking forward to the country becoming a beneficiary of the European Union’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (EU GSP+) citing that such will make the country an attractive and cheaper source of goods.

The Department of Trade and Industry submitted the Philippines’ application to the EU GSP+, a scheme which will allow more goods to enter the bloc at zero duty, in December.

The EU GSP+ covers 6,274 products which can enter the EU at zero duty.

At present, the Philippines is a beneficiary of the regular GSP, which covers 6,209 products, with 2,442 products subject to zero duty and the rest slapped with lower tariffs.

“Philippine goods will be duty free entry to EU. Also, (with) the forthcoming incentivized/subsidized labor, this makes investments in the Philippines attractive,” Young said.

By having new investments here, Young said FOBAP members which source products for foreign buyers, will have more factories and suppliers to choose from.

“Right now, we are running out of suppliers because in the past five years, they closed shops one by one. If they will come back, our own business will also flourish together with the Philippine economy,” he added.

 

...the business accent

'Accent' matters: Philippines acquiring 70% of India call centers

            

By Camille Diola

philstar.com

April 7, 2014

 

A building in Manila occupied by a call center. Rajesh Pamnani

MANILA, Philippines — Most voice and call center businesses in India are transferring to the Philippines due to Filipino workers' more "neutral" English acccent, among other reasons, an Indian business group said.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said that India is losing 70 percent of all incremental domestic business process outsourcing (BPO) businesses, particularly call centers, estimated to be worth $30 billion in foreign exchange earnings.

"Philippines ... has become the top destination for Indian investors, thus the need to reduce costs and make operations leaner is increasingly becoming significant across the BPO industry," Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat said in a statement Sunday.

Citing Assocham's study, Rawat said that the Philippines has an advantage over India due to its large pool of "well-educated, English-speaking, talented and employable graduates."

Rawat said that only 10 percent of graduates in India are qualified to work in call centers and training could take a considerable amount of time. About 30 percent of graduates in the Philippines, on the other hand, are employable.

"Employees in Philippine call centers speak English fluently with a neutral accent which is what customers look for and that is something missing in Indian accents and that is a prime reason why BPO business is thriving in that country," Rawat explains.

"Cultural proximity to the US together with availability of talented manpower are key reasons as to why BPO companies prefer expanding their operations in Philippines," he added.

The country's IT-BPO sector saw its revenues rise by 17 percent in 2013 as more companies chose to locate and expand their operations in the Philippines.

The industry is estimated to hit revenues of up to $25 billion by 2016, and may account for approximately 10 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, employing about 4.5 million Filipinos.

 

...the Convergys pool of talents

Quality talent pool pushes Convergys Philippines' 10-year growth

             

By Dexter Rodrigo Matilla

philstar.com

August 15, 2013

 

 

Convergys heads Marife Zamora (Managing Director for AP and EMEA), Andrea Ayers (President and CEO) and Ivic Mueco (Country Manager) share a light moment during a roundtable with the media recently.

 

 

MANILA, Philippines - One of the pioneers in the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry chalks up its dynamic ten-year growth to the availability of a high quality talent pool in the Philippines.

In 2003, Convergys started with its first site in Makati when the industry was still in its infancy. The company has since emerged as a top and long-running industry performer, boasting over 35,000 employees nationwide, opening a 22nd site by September, and reaping several awards along the way.

A three-time winner of the BPO Employer of the Year award and two-time winner of the BPO Company of the Year in the International ICT Awards, Convergys is also in the PEZA Hall of Fame for winning Top Employer and Top Exporter three times in a row in both categories.

The BPO giant has multiple sites located in nearly every significant business district in the country; from Makati and Ortigas, to Baguio, Bacolod and Cebu. It announced expansion in 8 new sites, notably Alabang 2, Alabang 3, Bacolod 3, Baguio, Cebu-TGU, Megamall, MDC-100 in Libis, and Cebu 5. On its tenth year, Convergys has set its sights on Mindanao and will open its first Davao site by next month.

“From 0 to 35,000 employees in the Philippines today, we achieved in just ten years,” Convergys Country Manager Ivic Mueco said. “We take great pride in our “build-from-within” philosophy: more than 80% of our leaders have grown their careers in Convergys, many of whom started as Agents.”

The Philippines is one of the prime hubs for the Cincinnati-headquartered global company. The country is now its largest geography, taking 44% of their 80,000 global headcount.

Its diverse workforce in the Philippines also includes returning OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and qualified senior citizens and retirees looking for a second career opportunity.

Mueco said that the factors in having the Philippines as the top location for Convergys varies from the high literacy rate to a business-friendly government. She credited the Filipinos’ way of adapting to various cultures as the main factor of the continuous expansion of the company.

“As part of our commitment to help improve employability of the talent pool, we have a free program called Near-Hire Training. It is a communications training that helps improve chances of success into getting hired for Convergys. We only launched this program in April, but have already trained almost 700 individuals and hired 343 graduates,” Mueco said.

Marife Zamora, Managing Director of Convergys for Asia Pacific and EMEA, pointed out that, “The Philippines has emerged as a top-notch destination for the provision of customer management services to Convergys clients from North America, United Kingdom and Australia. The biggest advantage continues to be the availability and high quality of the potential employee pool found in the Philippines.”

Convergys President and CEO Andrea Ayers, who was in town for the company’s anniversary celebration, was all praises for the local management team.

“We are grateful to our Philippine team for their passion and commitment to superior service delivery for our clients and customers. We are honored and proud that Convergys continues to be the largest private employer in the Philippines,” Ayers said.

Competition to get the best of this potential talent pool remains fierce in the BPO industry. Compared to other industries, BPOs face the challenge of higher employee attrition. Mueco said the company has learned to handle the situation well through various internal programs.

“We emphasize a rewarding work experience and leverage employer branding-- best training, best facilities, best engagement initiatives, and best career opportunities,” she said. “Our goal is for every employee to become a key point of differentiation and a competitive advantage for the company.

 They are our greatest resource and by emphasizing talent development, we are able to help them develop their skills, and move into different roles within the company. We invest in the continuous development of our employees at all levels.”

Asked how the country’s workforce can remain competitive, Mueco advised, “Our opportunity to further grow the BPO industry in the Philippines lies in having a steady supply of talented, English-proficient, customer-service oriented employees and we work closely with the government and academe to ensure the continuing provision of English language skills to the country’s youth.”

 

...the NZ's major source of skilled migrants

Philippines Now Major Source of Skilled Migrates to NZ

Friday, 3 May 2013
Press Release: Immigration Placement Services
Immigration Placement Services Ltd– Press Release 


Filipinos have been migrating to New Zealand for the last 15 years and many New Zealand employers have become aware of their work ethics and skills. Many other countries around the world have been recruiting Filipinos for years because of their skills and their willingness to work in jobs that their local population has been unwilling to undertake. There is an increasing interest from New Zealand employers recently in hiring skilled migrant workers from the Philippines to fill the skills shortage in the local market. For some years many hundreds of dairy farm workers have been employed by New Zealand farmers if they have been unable to find suitable staff locally.

 Today the NZ dairy farming industry has become dependent on Filipino workers to provide the labour force to meet their requirements of this rapidly growing industry. Many of the Filipinos coming to NZ have previously been working on commercial dairy farms in the Middle East or Japan, and have settled as residents with their families.

Over 11 million Filipinos work outside the Philippines. They can be found working around the world. Many Middle Eastern countries are dependent on their Filipino guest workers to keep their economies growing, where they work under contract for a certain number of years. Employers have recognised their willingness to work, their cheerful dispositions, and their ability to pick up language and new skills. Before Filipinos can leave their country to work abroad they must obtain an Overseas Employment Certificate from the Philippines Overseas Employment Agency (POEA). Without this they cannot depart though many thousands do illegally out of desperation to find jobs abroad. The reason why the POEA requires this process is to ensure that workers going abroad have a genuine job offer and not subject to scams. The process requires employers to have their employment contracts examined and approved by the POEA, along with other under-takings before the workers they wish to hire will be issues their OECs. Why have so many Filipinos forced to work abroad, rather than in their own country? The main reason is the lack of job opportunities for Filipinos in the Philippines.

 Unlike most of the rest of Asia, the Philippines have been unable to attract overseas investment to finance the growth in manufacturing and jobs as elsewhere in Asia. Yet the Philippines are one of the richest countries in Asia, with many natural resources and a talented English-speaking work-force. Overseas investors have preferred other Asian countries for investment as a result of poor government policies, and less flexible labour laws, a weak and corrupt legal system, poor infrastructure and high electricity costs. (As recently pointed out in an IMF report).

Yet in recent years the country has benefited enormously from the remittances from their overseas workers (OFWS) – over $US20 billion is sent back into the country annually providing an inflow of capital to fiancé domestic growth. The No 1 earner of overseas currency is the remittances from OFWs. 

In spite of this, nearly a third of the population lives in poverty and wages in the Philippines remain low. While the economy is expected to grow 7% this year driven by a boom in property construction, the population is growing faster than new jobs are being created. As in the nineteenth century, when many migrated from the UK and Ireland to settle around the world, today Filipinos are likewise migrating around the world to seek better opportunities than can be obtained at home. Migration of Filipinos is likely to continue until structural changes are made to the Philippines economy to become competitive to investors with other Asian economies.

As the only New Zealand Company based in the Philippines (for the last five years) supplying skilled migrants to meet the skills shortage in New Zealand, Immigration Placement Services Ltd has helped settle many hundreds of Filipinos successfully in the country. Many of these have now bought their families to New Zealand and have since become permanent residents, contributing to our society.

 New Zealand is a preferred destination for Filipinos as Immigration policies allow for approved skilled migrants on a work visa to bring their partners and children, something that is not possible for many Filipinos working in many other countries.

Many Filipino children grew up not knowing their parents as one or both need to work abroad to provide for their children’s education and necessities in live. Filipinos have integrated into NZ society well. As English is widely spoken throughout the Philippines they have fitted into NZ society much better than other Asian ethic groups, and can now be found from one end of NZ to the other.

 

...the Chase in Manila

JPMorgan to transfer more operations to Philippines

 

 

Sunstar

Monday, March 25, 2013

THE largest US-based financial holding firm by assets, JPMorgan Chase & Co., will likely transfer more business support functions to its global in-house center (GIC) in Manila in the months ahead, a legislator said on Monday.

“Under tremendous pressure to slash costs, we see JPMorgan moving more business support activities to its back office in Manila over the next 24 months,” said House Deputy Majority Leader Roman Romulo, a supporter of the Philippines’ booming business process outsourcing industry (BPO).

“This augurs well for our fresh college graduates and young professionals looking for gainful outsourcing service jobs,” Romulo said.

Romulo’s congressional district of Pasig City is home to 16 Philippine Economic Zone Authority-registered information technology (IT) parks that in turn host a growing number of BPO firms.

New York-based JPMorgan earlier bared plans to cut 17,000 jobs in America, or almost seven percent of its 258,965 global workforce by 2014, in a bid to generate at least $1 billion in annual operating cost-savings.

By revenue, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.–Philippine Global Center has emerged as Manila’s largest GIC of a global corporation.

Established in 2005, the center generated almost P10 billion in revenues in 2011, and has a staff of more than 10,000 at The Net Plaza in Taguig City and at The Asiatown IT Park in Cebu City.

The center provides strategic support, including voice-based customer services, to JPMorgan’s various lines of business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It supports card services, retail financial services (home lending, auto finance, education finance, telephone banking, business banking), and treasury and securities services.

The center also assists in human resources, performance improvement, quality assurance, IT, accounting, account servicing, collections, operations management, project management, and risk and compliance.

Global corporations have aggressively conveyed non-core, labor-intensive and IT-enabled business support jobs to the Philippines, a lower-cost location with ample supply of fluent English-speaking college graduates.

They have either established their own GICs in Manila, or contracted out the jobs to independent multinational BPO providers operating here.

The other GICs in the Philippines include Citigroup Business Process Solutions Pte. Ltd.; Wells Fargo Philippines Solutions Inc.; Bank of America Continuum Philippines Inc.; Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd.; Emerson Electric Asia Ltd.; IBM Daksh Business Process Services Philippines Inc.; IBM Business Services Inc.; IBM Solutions Delivery Inc.; HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines Inc.; Shell Shared Services Asia B.V.; Thomson Reuters Corp. Pte. Ltd.; Lexmark Research & Development Corp.; Chartis Technology & Operations Management Corp. Philippines; Manulife Data Services Inc.; and Dell International Services Philippines Inc.

The BPO industry is projected to produce $25 billion in revenues and directly employ 1.3 million Filipinos by 2016.

With a labor force of 780,000, the sector posted $13 billion in revenues in 2012, up by $2 billion, or 18 percent, from $11 billion in 2011.

This year, the industry is expected to generate $16 billion in revenues and add 146,000 full-time jobs, according to the IT and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

The industry includes contact center services; back offices; medical, legal and other data transcription; animation; software development; engineering design; and digital content.

Romulo is author of the new Personal Data Privacy Act of 2012, which has helped to drive outsourcing to the Philippines. (PR)

 

...the Filipino work ethic

Prince Faisal commends Filipino work ethic

 

 

RIYADH: Rodolfo C. Estimo Jr.

Arab news

Saturday 16 March 2013



“Their (Filipino workers') efficiency and hard work has contributed to the national development of both Saudi Arabia and the Philippines." - Prince Faisal Bin Salman, Governor of Madinah
 

 

 

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman receives Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago in his office.

      

 

 

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman has lauded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the region for their work ethic.

“Their efficiency and hard work has contributed to the national development of both Saudi Arabia and the Philippines,” Prince Faisal said.

 He made the statement to Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin H. Tago, who called on him last Sunday to congratulate him on his appointment as the new Madinah governor.

 Tago thanked Prince Faisal for the excellent treatment accorded to OFWs in Madinah who are mostly nurses and other medical workers and to Filipino students in the region studying Arabic, Islamic law and theology.

 He also expressed his thanks for the services accorded to Filipino pilgrims coming to the Kingdom to perform Haj annually. Eight thousand Filipino pilgrims will perform Haj this year, up from 6,000 last year.

 Tago invited Prince Faisal to visit the Philippines. The prince said he had not yet visited the Philippines but his father, Crown Prince Salman was in the country on an official visit in 1999 as Riyadh governor.

 Prince Faisal said he would cooperate fully with the Philippine Embassy in connection with the concerns of Filipino workers in the region.

 

...the Filipino workforce

Filipino labor is worth hiring – P-Noy

 

By Delon Porcalla

The Philippine Star

March 13, 2013

 

 

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino made a pitch for Filipino workers before potential investors yesterday, saying their creativity, dedication and loyalty are worth investing in.

In a speech to keynote the Philippine Investment Forum 2013 at the Manila Peninsula in Makati City, the President cited the success of the business process outsourcing industry in which Filipinos have excelled and brought the country “to great heights in such a short time.”

“Given the opportunity, they will do the same for you, whatever industry you may be involved in,” Aquino said.

Aquino said the intrinsic characteristics of Filipino workers are what investors want from their work force.

The President also called on investors to partner with the government in expanding their businesses in the country. He said the country is in a better position to offer more and meet their needs.

He said potential investors could invest in agriculture, the source of income for some 12.1-million Filipinos; tourism, with the target 56-million tourist arrivals by 2016; and infrastructure, which is seen to support agriculture and tourism through the development of road networks, ports, and airports.

“Whether in these three sectors or in others…we know that, here, hard work, innovation, and creativity are rewarded with success,” he said.

The President said new investments would create thousands of jobs that will put food on the tables, send children to school and meet family expenses.

“Together, we will be empowering them; giving them greater power to contribute to economic growth and opportunities to uplift their lives and even the lives of their fellow Filipinos,” Aquino said.

The President also noted since he assumed office, he has been devoted to weeding out graft and corruption to level the playing field and “ensure that integrity, transparency, and accountability characterize our actions.”

He cited efforts to reform the judiciary, streamline the process of setting up business in the country and ensure the strict implementation of bidding and procurement laws.

“We are also investing heavily in our countrymen – empowering them to take stock of their lives and to realize their potential,” Aquino said.