In 2025, the Philippine IT-BPM industry exceeded $40 billion in revenues, marking its largest recorded output to date.
The milestone is significant not only for its scale, but for what it implies operationally. Revenue growth at this level requires additional teams, office capacity, and geographic expansion. At some point, growth becomes a question of location.
Historically, expansion concentrated in Metro Manila. Additional capacity meant more space in established business districts such as Makati, Ortigas, and Bonifacio Global City. This model worked while supply and labor markets could absorb it.
Over time, constraints became visible. Office costs increased. Talent competition intensified. Commute times lengthened. Expansion timelines grew more complex.
As the industry matured, growth began distributing outward.
Recent industry data shows that a majority of new IT-BPM jobs are now being created outside Metro Manila. Expansion is increasingly multi-nodal rather than centralized.
THE OPERATIONAL LOGIC BEHIND EXPANSION
When IT-BPM firms evaluate new sites, decisions are typically grounded in operational reliability rather than narrative momentum.
Expansion teams assess:
- Talent pipeline stability
- Office infrastructure availability
- Connectivity and transport access
- Long-term workforce retention
The question is not whether a city is emerging, but whether it is workable at scale.
This is where second-tier cities begin to enter the equation.
ILOILO AS A CASE EXAMPLE
As of 2024, Iloilo hosts approximately 118 IT-BPM firms employing around 47,200 workers.
Earlier records showed more than 36,500 workers in prior years, indicating steady growth over time rather than short-term spikes.
This scale signals institutional presence. It reflects sustained lease renewals, workforce absorption, and ecosystem adaptation.
Real estate development followed employment growth. Districts such as Iloilo Business Park were structured to accommodate large IT-BPM tenants, integrating office, residential, hospitality, and retail components.
INDUSTRY EVOLUTION AND REGIONAL FIT
The IT-BPM sector is expanding not only in volume but in complexity. Growth is increasingly driven by higher-value services such as IT services, engineering support, healthcare information management, analytics, and financial operations.
These segments require stable environments, skilled labor pools, and long-term workforce retention. They do not necessarily require the most expensive districts in the country.
As industry composition shifts upward in value, geographic flexibility increases.
This dynamic partly explains why regional expansion continues to accelerate
WHEN NATIONAL GROWTH BECOMES LOCAL ALLOCATION
At $40 billion and rising, each incremental revenue increase translates into additional operating capacity. Expansion becomes a sequence of allocation decisions:
Which city supports the next 1,000 roles?
Where can the next operations center scale sustainably?
Which labor markets demonstrate long-term absorption capacity?
Cities that already host established IT-BPM workforces, functioning office districts, and connectivity infrastructure tend to enter these discussions first.
Iloilo’s decade-long buildup positions it within that category.
WATCHING THE NEXT PHASE
Industry growth will continue to generate new nodes across the country. Expansion announcements will increasingly reflect a distributed model rather than a single metropolitan concentration.
The most competitive cities will likely be those that:
- Built workforce scale early
- Sustained office development
- Maintained livability for long-term retention
- Demonstrated operational continuity
The $40 billion milestone signals maturity. The next phase will be defined less by revenue headlines and more by geographic distribution.
And as the map widens, cities like Iloilo are no longer on the sidelines.
If you’re exploring new cities, we’d be happy to talk through the possibilities.
