According to The Philippines' Offshoring Opportunity, a September 2005 report by McKinsey and Company, the demand for global outsourcing services is expected to reach $180 billion by 2010. The Philippines' outsourcing industry aims to acquire 5 percent of that market, making it a $10 billion-industry, up from about $1.5 billion in 2004.

The intensity of the recruitment efforts of contact centers, for one, can be described as a function of the unexpectedly rapid growth of the outsourcing industry over the past five years. In fact, high demand for skilled professionals holds true across all sectors of the industry. In animation alone, there is a need to train 25,000 new industry-ready animators by 2010 to meet global outsourced animation services requirements, said Animation Council of the Philippines Inc. (ACPI) executive director Joy Bacon.

This could be attributed to 'better people, better business environment, better infrastructure, and better lifestyle and security,' in the Philippines as opposed to other outsourcing hubs like India, according to a presentation by Richard Mills, chairman of Chalre Associates, an executive search firm serving multinationals throughout Asia Pacific. A growing number of companies continue to bank on the country's reputation for high-quality, cost-effective services.

The year 2005 saw large companies like computer manufacturer Dell Inc. set up its own contact center facility in the Philippines. Whereas Dell has been outsourcing to third-party providers in the country for years, the company finally decided to make the Philippines a dedicated global customer service center. One other global brand that is moving aggressively into the country is consumer electronics firm General Electric Company, which has begun shifting substantial resources from India.

'In terms of potential, business opportunities, and realized revenues, we know for a fact that we have only begun to scratch the surface of business process offshoring. There is much room for growth in the industry,' said Peter Favila, secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).