By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
THE CONTACT CENTER Association of the Philippines (CCAP) anticipates at least 5% growth in earnings and employment this year, even as firms progressively implement new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
“For 2025, we’re still estimating a growth of between 5% and 7% as a sector,” CCAP President Haidee C. Enriquez remarked during a pre-event gathering for Contact Islands 2025 on Wednesday.
Last year, the contact center sector recorded $31.5 billion in earnings, accounting for 82% of the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) sector’s total income. It also boasted 1.62 million full-time employees, which made up 89% of the sector’s total workforce.
Should the 5-7% growth materialize this year, the sector’s revenues by year-end could fall between $33.1 billion and $35.42 billion, and its workforce could expand to between 1.7 million and 1.73 million.
Nonetheless, she mentioned that the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines is poised to reassess the objectives outlined in the Philippine IT-BPM Industry Roadmap 2028.
“The 5-7% growth is not yet the updated targets. But we are quite confident in achieving this,” she stated.
Citing an internal survey conducted among its 167 member firms, she noted 100% of the companies expressed they are “somewhat confident” and “confident” that they will meet their objectives.
Ms. Enriquez acknowledged, however, that there has been a deceleration in workforce growth due to the adoption of advanced technologies.
“But this does not necessarily affect revenue, simply because members are gradually shifting towards higher value services,” she added.
CCAP Board Director Tonichi Achurra-Parekh stated that the workforce is likely to continue growing in the short term, even as more companies implement new technologies.
“Do we foresee a decrease in FTEs (full-time employees) in the next one to two years? Perhaps not. But indeed, it will be slower. Beyond that, it’s uncertain, due to the rapid evolution of technology,” she stated.
“We are currently concentrating on enhancing and retraining our workforce to ensure that… we transition to more high-value, complex types of work. That’s something we will observe, and it will persist,” she added.
Jamea S. Garcia, corporate secretary of CCAP, remarked that enhancing employee skills would enable contact center firms to transition to higher-value tasks, which would increase revenues.
“The revenue per FTE rises because there are greater efficiencies to be tapped,” she affirmed.
Following the group’s forecast, the contact center sector is projected to hire an additional 80,000 to 100,000 employees this year. This figure is expected to be lower than approximately 110,000 new hires from the previous year.
According to Ms. Enriquez, companies are allocating more resources toward enhancing the skills of current employees.
“The industry generally secured P500 million in funding from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for upskilling,” she mentioned. “We hope additional support will come from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).”
Ms. Enriquez noted that employees will receive training in emerging technologies, encompassing areas such as cybersecurity, data analysis, data annotation, and medical coding.
CHALLENGES
In addition to talent and skill shortages, the contact center sector is also contending with competition from new and re-emerging markets for IT-BPM services.
“There are an increasing number of locations aiming to emulate the Philippines… Many of our members have reported that this presents a greater challenge than ever when it comes to generating and attracting new clients,” Ms. Enriquez stated.
These markets include nations in Latin America, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Eastern Europe.
“They have uncovered the gold mine that we discovered many years ago. Therefore, they are capitalizing, like Cairo, for instance, and our neighboring countries, such as Malaysia and Vietnam,” Ms. Achurra-Parekh commented.
“And they’re making it very appealing for the same investors we have, encouraging them (the clients) to go there,” she added.
‘CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC’
Meanwhile, Ms. Enriquez stated they are closely observing the US government’s tariff policies for indications, as the US continues to be the primary source of outsourced work for the Philippines.
“There is some concern. Thus, we can say that we are cautiously optimistic as a sector that it will not have a long-term effect on us,” she remarked.
“The tariffs currently focus on goods, not services. However, given the uncertainty on that front, there could eventually be tariffs applied to services that are offshored to the Philippines,” she added.
Nonetheless, Ms. Enriquez indicated the US tariffs on goods have not interfered with the operational methods of contact centers in the Philippines.
“But we’re being very vigilant and careful,” she added.
Citing historical patterns, CCAP reported that industry growth plummeted from 12.3% in 2016 to only 2.5% and 3.9% in 2017 and 2018, respectively. These years align with US President Donald J. Trump’s first term.
Mr. Trump, who commenced his second term in January, has disrupted global trade by imposing reciprocal tariffs on most of its trading allies.
The Philippines is subjected to a 17% reciprocal tariff, the second-lowest rate among Southeast Asian nations.
The US has suspended reciprocal tariffs until July while negotiations with trading partners are ongoing.
However, Ms. Achurra-Parekh noted that while the tariff policy exclusively covers goods, it may also influence how contact centers in the Philippines deliver services to US clients.
“Indirectly, consumer behavior in the US will affect how we provide services,” she stated.
“Although we do not produce the goods, ultimately, we service them,” Ms. Garcia emphasized.
