The Outsourcing Week in Review: Wednesday, March 3, 2021
What were the key outsourcing stories in the week to March 3, 2021?
The week to March 3, 2021 marked the start of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive alongside a BPO push for longer work-from-home arrangements and a surge in approved investments and new jobs.
- The Philippines began vaccinations as Metro Manila stayed under quarantine for March, a stance the World Health Organization supported.
- The BPO sector pushed for long-term work-from-home plans, citing higher productivity and lower attrition in optimized remote models.
- Approved PEZA investments soared 139% year on year in January, and new jobs were set to come from IKEA, Cebu job fairs, a Sagay IT-BPM facility and a Yamaha plant expansion.
Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
This Monday, March 1st, the Philippines administered its COVID-19 vaccination dose and general rollout – just over one year after the first reported COVID-19 case in the country.
The country launched the vaccination drive with 600,000 doses of donated Chinese CoronaVac. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also announced that 525,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses earlier scheduled will be delayed for “about a week,” owing to a “global supply problem.”
While the vaccination launch seems like a step towards the new normal, Metro Manila will remain under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) for the whole month of March. The decision was made despite calls from various agencies to switch to the more lax Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) lockdown restriction. However, the move was supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) – with the WHO country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe, saying that switching to MGCQ could cause an upsurge in COVID-19 cases.
The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is pushing for long-term Work From Home (WFH) plans as companies are looking to adopt remote work as part of their hybrid operations model. In a forum, IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) Chair and Accenture Philippines Country Managing Director Lito Tayag said that they have seen productivity for employees with optimized remote models, lesser absenteeism and attrition.
>> Is that true? What are your thoughts on WFH efficacy? Take our LinkedIn poll, and let us know. Results posted in next week’s Inside Outsourcing.
Last year’s foreign investment pledges – as expected – hit a deep dive, falling 71% to P112.1 – however, they are now showing good signs of recovery. In January, approved investments by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) surged 139 per cent in January from a year ago. The agency approved 24 projects in the first month of 2021, which are expected to create almost 6,000 jobs.
The Philippines is expected to have an oversupply of IT graduates in four years. According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), IT-trained workers and professionals are likely to exceed demand by 171,960 positions by the end of 2025. Though with the current demand in digital and online commerce, Inside Outsourcing is wondering if there can ever be an oversupply of digital professionals…
Despite the pandemic, new retail jobs are set to welcome Filipinos this year. IKEA Philippines is looking to generate at least 500 job opportunities for Pasay City residents. The Swedish furniture conglomerate will start its operations in the third or fourth quarter of the year. In Cebu City, an online job fair organized by the Public Service Employment Office (PESO) will offer over 1,000 jobs – with most of the jobs reportedly coming from the BPO industry. PESO commented that customer, and technical service representatives remain to be the most in-demand positions.
Sagay City in Negros Occidental is being groomed to be the next IT hub in the region. As an initial move, the local government collaborated with Filipino-owned digital jobs aggregator Virtual Workforce Professionals (VWP) to launch an IT-BPM facility in the area. The partnership is seen to initially yield 20 seats that will host highly sought after digital jobs for the city residents.
In Batangas, Japanese automobile juggernaut Yamaha recently added P2.691 billion in investments as it expanded its manufacturing operations in the country. The newly-inaugurated Yamaha Batangas plant will add an additional 1,300 jobs to its current 1,500-strong workforce. PEZA Director General Charito Plaza attended the launch, and commented that the move is “Yamaha’s testament to their commitment to further business operations in the Philippines.”
In further COVID-IATF easements, from March 1, foreign nationals with special visas will be required to present a travel pass before leaving the country, said the Bureau of Immigration (BI). BI Commissioner Jaime Morente also announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has removed the prior visa reckoning date of March 20, 2020 for aliens now allowed to re-enter the country.
>>> Got any burning news? Share your industry hot scoops and company press releases with Inside Outsourcing – the world’s leading outsourcing news hub.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
NEWS THIS WEEK
2 March 2021
- PH urged by Indian businesses to address challenges – read article…
- IT-BPM facility launched in Sagay City – read article…
- Businesses, households exposed to more cyberattack threats – read article…
1 March 2021
- Approved investments soar 139% in January – read article…
- PH to start vaccination drive, Filipinos hesitant about getting vaccinated – read article…
- Foreigners required to get travel pass before leaving PH – read article…
- Metro Manila remains under GCQ – read article…
26 February 2021
- IKEA PH expansion to hire 500 residents – read article…
- BPOs push for longer WFH plans – read article…
- PH’s foreign investors’ commitments dropped 71% last year – read article…
- PH to deal with an oversupply of IT graduates – read article…
24 February 2021
- COVID-19 cases to upsurge if PH switches to MGCQ – WHO – read article…
- Yamaha expands manufacturing plant, adds over 1K jobs – read article…
- PH employment sector to recover in next admin – read article…
- Cebu City offers 1K jobs in online job fair – read article…
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Frequently asked questions
When did the Philippines start its COVID-19 vaccination drive?
The Philippines administered its first COVID-19 vaccination doses and began general rollout on Monday, March 1, 2021, just over a year after the first reported case, launching with 600,000 donated doses of CoronaVac.
Why was the BPO sector pushing for work-from-home?
Companies wanted to adopt remote work as part of hybrid operations. IBPAP’s chair reported that optimized remote models delivered higher productivity along with lower absenteeism and attrition, which is why the sector pressed for longer work-from-home arrangements.
How strong was investment activity in early 2021?
Approved investments by PEZA surged 139% in January compared with a year earlier, with the agency approving 24 projects in the first month of 2021 that were expected to create almost 6,000 jobs.
Where were new jobs being created?
IKEA Philippines planned at least 500 jobs in Pasay City, a Cebu City online job fair offered over 1,000 roles with many from the BPO industry, a new IT-BPM facility launched in Sagay City, and Yamaha’s Batangas plant expansion added 1,300 jobs.
Is the Philippines facing an oversupply of IT graduates?
The Philippine Institute for Development Studies projected that IT-trained workers could exceed demand by 171,960 positions by the end of 2025, though strong demand in digital and online commerce raised doubts about whether an oversupply would truly materialise.
Independent
