Discover Why IT/Tech Is The Fastest Growing Industry In The Philippines

As the world strives to recover from the effects of the pandemic, businesses are trying to determine which sectors of the economy are likely to recover the fastest. The question on everyone’s mind now, whether employer or jobseeker, is, “What’s the fastest growing industry in the Philippines?”

Finding out the answers to this will give the savvy employer an edge so that they can strategize better, pivot their focus if necessary, and maximize their opportunities in today’s business environment.

Though the economy contracted as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, the unemployment rate is on a gradual upward trend, showing that the economy is slowly recovering. This is good news for employers who are looking to make up for gains lost over the past two years.

In its Job Outlook Report 2022, Jobstreet reported that the highest unemployment rate recorded was 17.7% in the second quarter of 2020, at the height of the lockdowns.

The situation has improved since then, said the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), with the unemployment rate at 5.2% in July 2022. This is the lowest it has been since the onset of the pandemic and is very close to the figures for the first to third quarters of 2019, before the pandemic. In contrast, the unemployment rate for July 2021 was 7.2%.

The employment rate in July 2022 rose to 94.8% or 47.4 million employed individuals, the highest recorded since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate declined to 13.8% in July 2022 compared to 21% in the same period last year. This translates to about 2.2 million fewer underemployed individuals.

“We expect more jobs and income opportunities available for Filipinos in the coming months as we move toward the full reopening of the economy,” said Economic Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.

In terms of job ad increases, Jobstreet found that the computer and IT industry was the top industry at 57.4% and the top specialization at 58.7% (104.9k ads). Meanwhile, ads for IT jobs were the second highest ad placement by specialization at 12.7%.

With most companies trying to maximize their use of digital platforms, the demand for IT professionals has increased. In fact, the number of ads on Jobstreet for software developer-related jobs rose by 83.3%, making up 25.6% of ads compared to other job titles.

Based on this and other criteria, IT was identified as one of the top four industries with strong growth and recovery prospects, along with education, healthcare and medical, and telecommunication.

The IT industry is considered one of the sectors of the economy that are likely to recover the fastest because companies of all sizes have embraced digital solutions to cope with the effects of the pandemic. Ten percent of sales can be credited to this change.

The IT industry is among the most resilient because in this increasingly digitized and connected world, IT professionals and workers are indispensable to keeping companies in practically all industries running smoothly.

IT technology is used in manufacturing, services, retail, hospitals, banks, hotels, and many other places through database management, website construction and maintenance, and other digital initiatives.

Moreover, digital transformation and Business 4.0 developments such as the internet of things, big data analytics, automation and artificial intelligence, and cloud computing all rely on IT professionals to run.

Jobstreet’s Job Outlook Report 2022 finds that the growth in the adoption of digital solutions spurred by the pandemic has resulted in a higher demand for IT professionals and other tech-related talents.

Employers are forecasted to increase demand for IT professionals because the industry’s rapid rate of expansion means more jobs are available. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for one, projects employment in the computer and IT industry to grow by 11% from 2019 to 2029.

IT jobs tend to be highly technical and the skills required are specialized, and thus tend to be more highly paid. Should an employee in this industry decide to transfer to a different job, it is also highly likely that they can expect a substantial salary increase, especially if they have garnered significant experience and notched important achievements over the course of their career. This is something that employers should be aware of so that they can design an optimized remuneration scheme.

With IT services being increasingly indispensable in today’s world, and with this update of the hiring landscape that shows the rising demand for IT professionals, how can employers attract the best IT talent for their companies or organizations?

In its Job Outlook Report 2022, JobStreet shows that there are four key drivers of attraction for workers in the Philippines.

The most important driver in the Philippines is job security. The others are work-life balance, having a good relationship with superiors and colleagues, and career development opportunities. Satisfying these needs will go a long way toward attracting and retaining talent in the Philippines.

Employers should also consider obtaining talents on a fully or partially remote basis. Jobstreet found that 49% of the 15,178 respondents surveyed prefer to work completely remote five days a week, much higher than the global figure of 24%.

In addition, 48% of Filipinos are open to working on a hybrid arrangement of offsite/onsite, a figure also much higher than the global average. These numbers show that most Filipino workers prefer to work remotely than onsite.

This preference was reflected in job roles as well when respondents’ answers were broken down according to industry. The only exceptions were law and social care, where many roles are client-facing.

The Philippines is among the top picks for remote employment by Belize, Cuba, Brunei, Palestine, Togo, Canada, Afghanistan, Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, and Argentina, among other countries looking to hire talent from overseas.

Check out Jobstreet’s Decoding Global Talent reports for more information on other candidate-motivating factors in the Philippines.

For more insights on how Filipinos view a post-COVID-19 workplace and other strategies on how to retain talent, download the Decoding Global Talent reports that contain exclusive findings on how people want to work.

To attract the right people for the #JobsThatMatter, register on JobStreet and find the right IT candidate for the job using Talent Search.

And for more expert insights visit Market Insights.