Informatics Forms Alliance with Experts to Meet Growing Demand in IT-BPO Industry

Posted on 12.08.10 2:18 PM under Corporate News, Featured News

Informatics Philippines, a leader in Information Technology (IT) education, launches a corporate responsibility program aimed to improve overall IT education in the country. The initiative, aptly named SHIFT (Society for Higher Information Technology Education), calls for the union of Filipinos to move towards the development of a highly competitive Philippine workforce. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has already committed P20M to kick-start the program.

Official logo of SHIFT

Official logo of SHIFT: Society for Higher Information Technology Education

Fueled by the immense growth potential in the Information Technology-Business Process Outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, SHIFT hopes to enable NGO’s, LGU’s, GU’s, BPO-member companies, students and other volunteers to invest in overall IT education and take advantage of the high demand in the industry.

The IT-BPO industry is expected to bring in $20-$25 billion in revenues and provide employment to 900,000 to 1.3 million individuals by 2016 as long as proper measures are taken, one of which is to ensure that heightened talent development exercises are put in place, according to the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P).

“The current mismatch of what is being taught in schools and what the industry is looking for hinders us from realizing our true potential as a leader in the offshore sector. There is a need to adjust to the rapid growth that the IT-BPO industry is posing. It all starts with quality education,“ says Leo Riingen, CEO, Informatics Philippines.

Informatics graduates enjoy the highest employment success rate in getting IT jobs in the country at 70%, according to the 2010 TESDA Job Absorption Rate Review.

An IT employee in the country earns an above-average annual salary of US$8,448 (Php363,264), according to the ZDNet Asia IT Salary Benchmark Survey 2009. This far exceeds the average family income, estimated at Php172,000 in 2006.

“It’s all about a shift in the way we view things. Access to a high-value industry, such as Information Technology, has already been presented to us Filipinos. With merging expertise and combined efforts, we will be able to heighten the productivity and success of our workforce,” stresses Leo Riingen.

SHIFT has already secured the partnership and support of both TESDA Director General, Joel Villanueva, and BPA/P CEO, Oscar Sañez.

Through a training fund under SHIFT, TESDA has pledged to allocate P20M, which BPA/P shall use to train qualified near-hires. Graduates from this program will be referred by BPA/P to its BPO-member companies. BPAP will come up with a reimbursement system to sustain the scholarships.

SHIFT is looking at facilitating financial donations for scholarships, IT equipment and infrastructure, as well as software and educational materials. It also hopes to inspire volunteerism to teach IT classes to children and a cooperation between partners to provide continuous training and make competitive jobs more accessible.

SHIFT encourages the participation of NGO’s, LGU’s, GU’s, BPO-member companies, students and other individuals to join the alliance for the effective development of a competitive workforce in the Philippines. For more information on how to help, call the SHIFT Information Desk at +63922 8839658 or visit and leave a post at the Informatics Facebook page.

Contract Signing for Revolving Fund
SHIFT Leaders put their initials on the contract for the revolving fund.      L-R: BPAP President Oscar Sañez, TESDA Secretary Joel Villanueva, Informatics President Leo Riingen