The call center industry in the Philippines is seen to generate more jobs for the Filipino workers this year, the Department of Labor and Employment said in a press release.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said that locally, the highest number of jobs recorded are in the call center industry, adding that at the start of 2006, the DOLE has received a request for about 7,500 people to work in call center.

Bureau of Investments estimates indicate that about 112,000 Filipinos are now working in call centers in the country which brought in more than $1 billion in revenues in 2005, the press release said.

The BOI said there is a sharp increase in figures compared to 2000 when call centers employed just 2,400 people and earned only $24 million.

By 2010, the country aims to capture about five percent of the global business process outsourcing seen to reach as much as $10 billion, DOLE said in a press release.

Sto. Tomas, however, said there have been difficulties in filling up call center seats because the number of English language proficient workers in the country is decreasing.

Out of every 100 applicants, she said, only about five to 10 people are accepted, indicating an acceptance rate of only five to 10 percent, the press release said.

To address the problem and sustain the competitiveness of the country's call center industry, Sto. Tomas said that the DOLE and its attached agency, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, will work together with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

The objective of the inter-agency meeting, she said, is to come up with a plan of action that would enable more Filipino workers to meet the call centers' urgent need for language proficient staff, the press release added.*

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