Artificial intelligence (AI) is threatening the jobs of business process outsourcing (BPO) employees, a key industry in the Philippines. As routine consulting and content-writing tasks become automated, some workers are moving to other duties or losing their jobs.
According to the BBC, about 1.9 million people currently work in the Philippine BPO industry. Annual revenue is $40 billion (about 57 trillion won), accounting for about 10% of the Philippine economy. BPO refers to corporations outsourcing tasks such as consulting, accounting, software development, and content writing to external vendors.
But analysts say the BPO industry involves many repetitive, standardized tasks that could be affected by AI. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that more than 1 in 4 workers in the Philippines, or 12.7 million people, are employed in occupations that could be affected by Generative AI. That is the highest share in Southeast Asia.
In fact, more than two-thirds of member companies of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) are running AI pilot projects. IBPAP President Jack Madrid said, "Agentic AI, which performs tasks by making its own judgments without human instructions, can greatly accelerate the pace of automation," adding, "There are clearly jobs that can be automated or have already been automated."
There are also actual layoffs. Lisa, a Filipino who worked as a content writer for 15 years, was dismissed eight months after joining and just a month before she was to be converted to full-time. Before the layoff, the company had employees revise AI-written articles. Lisa claimed that, in the process, employees' writing skills were used to train the AI in the company's style. "It felt like I dug my own grave," Lisa said. "We ourselves trained the AI that replaced us."
Some also say overseas clients are strongly pressuring Philippine firms to adopt AI to cut expense. Corporations, they say, are reducing headcount due to falling demand or a slowing economy while explaining it as AI-driven change.
Paul Quintos, a professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, said, "If you blame AI for layoffs, restructuring driven by market conditions can look like technological progress."
The Philippine government plans to train more than 300,000 BPO workers in skills needed for new roles. It set a goal of moving away from an industrial structure reliant on simple tasks, nurturing domestic AI corporations, and creating higher-quality jobs.
Leandro Aguirre of the Department of Information and Communications Technology in the Philippines said, "To be honest, the Philippines is a bit behind," adding, "We need to double our efforts so people can grow without losing their jobs in the AI race." He continued, "The benefits of AI must also go to the people," emphasizing, "Employers should not be the only ones to benefit."