The Philippines is one of the global centers (along with India) for outsourcing (external services) for contractual telephone call processing and business process management (call centers).
The leading position of outsourcing is largely due to low costs of setting up a business and a qualified workforce with knowledge of English.
The contribution of business outsourcing to GDP grew in parallel with the number of companies engaged in this activity: 0.075% of GDP in 2000, 2.4% in 2005, 6% in 2015; more than 12% in 2019. In 2004-2014, the Philippines tripled its share of the global business outsourcing market – from 4% to 12.3%.
The industry employs about 1 million people (2017). The Philippines ranks 9th in the world for outsourcing quality, according to the A.T. Kearney Global ranking (2021). In 2018, six Philippine cities were included in the list of the top 100 global outsourcing hubs according to research company Tholons: Manila (2nd), Cebu (11th), Davao (75th), Santa Rosa (87th), Bacolod (89th), and Iloilo (92nd).
American companies are the largest outsourcing client in the Philippines, accounting for about 65% of the local market. Business outsourcing companies in the Philippines also serve clients from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.