- By quade
- 28 August 2023
Cebu Remains a Significant BPO Hub for Business Expansion
Cebu, a city in the Philippines, is expected to continue growing as a significant center for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) operations, apart from Metro Manila.
Cebu’s Ongoing Outsourcing Growth
According to a report by Colliers Philippines, even though other provinces are trying hard to get outsourcing companies to invest in them, Cebu is still getting a lot of office space deals from big outsourcing companies, and this trend is expected to continue beyond 2023.
By the middle of 2023, office space agreements outside of Metro Manila amounted to 90,000 square meters (about 968,400 square feet). This is 10 percent higher than the 82,000 square meters (approximately 882,300 square feet) from one year ago.
At the same time, there were agreements in Cebu for spaces covering 43,000 square meters (which is about as big as 462,700 square feet). This is 15 percent higher than last year. These deals make up almost half, or 48 percent, of all the agreements made outside the main city area.
In other parts of the country, some places got a lot of office space during this time. For example, Pampanga has 24,400 square meters, Davao has 10,300 square meters, and Cagayan de Oro has 6,800 square meters.
Outsourcing Firms Lead Cebu’s Office Space Usage
According to Colliers Philippines Associate Director for Research Joey Roi Bondoc, companies that hire other companies to do work for them (outsourcing firms) are still the biggest users of office spaces in Cebu. They make up more than half, which is 56 percent, of all the office space deals. Some important companies like OfficePartners360, Cebu Tele-net, Dexcom, BPO Seats, and Omega Healthcare have taken up space in places like Cebu Business and IT Parks and nearby areas.
Colliers thinks that landlords and tenants in Cebu should keep taking advantage of the current market that favors tenants.
People who rent or use buildings might want to think about saving money or adding flexible workspaces to their plans for managing their properties.
Because more people care about things like the environment, fairness, and diversity, landlords can team up with tenants to make their office spaces better. They can do things like fixing up the offices and adding things like eco-friendly features and spaces that are fair and open to everyone. This helps the companies and their employees feel like they’re on the same page about what matters.
“In our view, Cebu will remain on the radar of major IT-BPM firms given the availability of skilled workforce, quality but relatively cheaper cost of living, good infrastructure network, and availability of high-quality office space. The viability of flexible workspaces will likely remain given the popularity of ‘work from anywhere’ set up,”
Joey Roi Bondoc, Colliers Philippines Associate Director for Research
