Now, Anastacio “Boy” Martirez, the new head of Smart Communications—one of the country’s leading telecommunications and internet providers—warns that a new wave led by Artificial Intelligence (AI) could decimate jobs much sooner than expected.
“AI is not any more a future possibility. It is now a reality,” Martirez said in a recent business forum.
“AI comes in with the chatbots and bots. These guys [in BPOs] are in danger of being displaced,” he said. “I foresee not in two years, in 18 months, this will decimate [the industry] unless they upskill".
Big picture
The BPO sector is a cornerstone of the economy, employing nearly two million workers and generating approximately $38 billion in annual revenues.
Bloomberg, citing data from Avasant, earlier reported that the sector faces a significant threat, with up to 300,000 jobs in the Philippines at risk of being displaced by AI within five years.
But Martirez sees disruptions happening at a much faster pace.
What telcos can do
Martirez mentioned upskilling, which means added training or learning new capabilities to adapt to changes in technology.
“Telcos have a role to play because in upskilling, we’ve got to build the most robust internet connection because upskilling is based on internet,” he said.
What the government has said
Economic czar Frederick Go acknowledged the disruptions AI could bring and emphasized preparing the workforce through skill upgrades and partnerships with schools.
“There are a lot of discussions in the education sector on how to prepare our workforce for that opportunity,” Go, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, said in a recent interview.
The government is also in discussions with BPOs and businesses to help match their needs with what the workforce can offer.
Pursuing leadership in AI
Bloomberg also quoted Akshay Khanna, managing partner at Avasant, who highlighted AI’s potential to generate up to 100,000 new jobs in fields such as algorithm training and data curation.
“[AI] is a reality that we must embrace, we must be ready, we must lead,” Martirez said.
BPO, IT sector’s continued expansion
Recent data from property services firm Leechiu Property Consultants showed that demand dropped 16 percent in the third quarter of 2024.
Despite this, year-to-date transactions have reached 900,000 square meters, which is an 11-percent increase primarily driven by the IT, outsourcing and traditional sectors.
IT and outsourcing has “demonstrated year after year that it remains the leading demand driver”, Leechiu Property said.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
