With many global IT-BPO companies expanding into the region within a fortnight, the Philippines is all set to become the top outsourcing hub in South East Asia. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, recently made visits to India and China in order to attract more investors to the island nation.

Sutherland Global Services, a multi-national BPO firm, met the Filipino President to unveil their expansion plans in the Philippines by opening a new center in the Camarines Sur province. They already have operations in cities of Manila and Clark with over 3,500 employees.

“The stability of economic environment, the high productivity of the workforce in voice-based services and the proactive support from the government have all been key factors in our aggressive expansion in the Philippines,” said Dilip Vellodi, Chairman and CEO, Sutherland Global Services.   

ICT Group, Perot Systems and JP Morgan are some of the other global firms that have entered the island in the recent past. ICT Group has opened two more call centers in Metro Manila with a combined capacity of more than 2,000 seats. Perot Systems will be expanding their services portfolio and will be adding about 200 more people to their Manila operations. JP Morgan, on the other hand, plans to build a back office in the Philippines with a workforce of 5,000.

With the BPO industry being the sunshine industry in the Philippines, the country aims to employ about a million people in the IT-BPO sector and generate revenues worth $12 billion. The economy has grown a brisk 7 percent so far this year, the fastest in last two decades.

But with so many BPO companies coming to this small island nation, there is a shortage of skilled personnel as the demographic is small. The lack of workers especially for the voice services is becoming a major constraint to business expansion.

So with this talent crunch, will the island nation still be able to attain the leading position as an outsourcing destination in South East Asia?