BPO firms ask PEZA to support shift to hybrid work scheme

The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines expressed confidence on the validity of the letters of authority issued by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to help registered business enterprises shift to on-site work mode by end-September 2022, according to a report by Manila Standard.

IBPAP president Jack Madrid said the group’s member-companies and six partner associations were relying on PEZA to help them make it through the government deadline.

“We continue to count on their support to uphold the validity of the LOAs in order to achieve our jobs and revenue targets,” he said.

He said the IT-BPM industry successfully navigated the pandemic, recording growth in revenues and jobs through the support of PEZA, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board and other government partners.

The expiration of the 90-percent work-from-home arrangement posed great challenges to many registered business enterprises of the IT-BPM industry, according to Madrid.

These include the complex process on the logistics of mobilizing employees and equipment to onsite operations while managing employee satisfaction and mitigating widespread attrition.

“The support that PEZA extended by allowing 30-percent WFH arrangement through an LOA is a legal and fair measure that IT-BPM RBEs are grateful for,” Madrid said.

The LOA provides necessary relief to address the cost and competitiveness pressures that the IT-BPM industry has been under since the pandemic began.

It also gives affected organizations more flexibility and runway time to transition and set up their offices for returning employees as they strengthen their immediate-term strategies amid continuing global shifts.

PEZA said 423 IT and business process management firms petitioned the government to institutionalize the hybrid work scheme after the September 2022 extension lapses.

PEZA is continuing to push the hybrid workplace initiative to help IT and BPM companies optimize their operations in the Philippines.