THE Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is said to contribute nearly $30 billion to the economy each year. Some 1.3 million Filipinos were employed in over 1,000 BPO companies in 2019 and the figure is growing by some 8 percent to 10 percent every year.

Outsourcing, unlike many other industries, thrived during the pandemic as businesses scrambled to digitalize and redefine many functions. A 2020 Sprout Solutions study found that the BPO industry (31 percent), information and communication (9.79 percent), and health care (8.51 percent) were the biggest industries that let employees work from home during lockdowns implemented beginning March that year.