The Philippines may be churning out a sufficient number or even an oversupply of ICT graduates, but a recent survey showed that the quality of graduates still fall below industry expectations.

During his presentation at the Asia Pacific College ICT Symposia Week, Francis Huang, senior director at SGV & Co., noted that the Philippines produces an average of 350,000 college graduates every year. Still, the overall ICT industry acceptance rate averages only at around 3.3 percent as a result of the large gap between technical, business, and interpersonal skills taught in schools and those required by the industry.

The manufacturing sector for ICT products, software development, and the contact center industry felt the heaviest mismatch, with acceptance rates at 1.8 percent, 2 percent, and 3.3 percent respectively.

Adding to the gravity of the situation is the fact that 8.06 percent of applicants who have finally landed themselves a job eventually leave their positions for more lucrative jobs abroad. In 2003, the animation industry posted the highest turnover rate at 19.4 percent, followed by the manufacturing sector for ICT products at 17.64 percent, and software development at 13.52 percent.

Among the 214 Philippine-based ICT and non-ICT corporations commissioned to take the survey, 88 percent believe that the local ICT workforce is technically competent but lacks the soft and business skills required for the position.

?Technical skills get you hired, but it?s the soft skills that get you promoted,? stressed Huang. ?Today, most companies, especially large corporations, are very particular to hire people not only equipped with the right technical skills but also armed with good personal skills such as confidence, the ability to become proactive and handle stress effectively.?

The study predicted that the top five skills that would most likely be required in order for a person to get hired in the future for both ICT and non-ICT entities would be critical thinking, interpersonal skills or the ability to work with a team, personal skills, creativity, and oral communication. Business skills, on the other hand, would include project management, organizational planning, understanding business functions, understanding business goals and objectives, as well as customer service.

For this year, the highest growth rate for the ICT industry is expected to come from the field of medical transcription and other transcribers and encoders from non-ICT entities followed by the call center industry with growth rates at 76.8 percent and 31.2 percent, respectively.

Another main obstacle faced by most respondents is the decline in English skills among ICT graduates. More than half of the total respondents agreed that the English and communication skills of ICT graduates have dropped by more than 78 percent in 2004.

In a separate interview, Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) chief Virgilio Peña also noted that majority of ICT and engineering graduates find it very difficult to carry out a conversation in straight English. Most need to resort to using Tagalog terms every now and then to completely convey their thoughts and opinions.

Reports from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) have cited that English training in schools and universities has not kept up with the required English conversational skills required by most ICT-enabled services industries like call centers where the bulk of the clients come from the US.

On the contrary, Huang also cited the possibility that skills may have remained the same but the sudden and significant increase in the demand for English proficiency, because of the boom of the call center industry, has caused its so-called ?downfall?.

Still, Huang maintains that education is still the number one area that needs improvement. ?The academe or educational sector has to adjust the curriculum with industry demand and requirements,? he advised. ?There is a high level of ICT skills but they are not completely aligned with the global ICT services market.?

Most respondents have also commented that the government should double its effort in promoting the Philippine ICT-enabled services industry both locally and abroad.

Huang also pointed out that 80 percent of the respondents believe that certification is a worthwhile investment and can increase a person?s chance to get hired or promoted. The training budget for ICT manpower among most corporations is also expected to increase by 55 percent this year.

According to the study, the country could expect a 29 percent increase in the demand for ICT workers this year compared from last year, bringing the overall Philippine ICT workforce demand from 160, 916.to almost 207, 500.