Workers Face Uncertainty as AI Reshapes Philippine Outsourcing
Ninoda.com – The Philippines has long been celebrated as a global hub for call centre operations. For fifteen years, a single mother named Lisa sustained herself through content writing. After graduating from college, she began freelancing and eventually joined the rapidly expanding outsourcing sector—a path chosen by countless young Filipinos. Lisa maintained that artificial intelligence had no place in her daily tasks.
“I can say that I am able to do my job, I meet deadlines. In my opinion, there is no need for [AI],” she told the BBC.
Despite her confidence, Lisa lost her position eight months into her current role, just one month before it was set to become permanent. Prior to her dismissal, a public relations firm had been commissioned to create AI-generated content. Lisa and her fellow employees were tasked with reviewing this material. In the process, their expertise helped teach the artificial intelligence system the company’s distinctive writing approach.
“I feel like I dug my own grave,” she says. “We were the ones who trained the artificial intelligence that replaced us.”
Lisa—whose name has been altered to protect her identity—is among several former outsourcing professionals interviewed by the BBC. All requested anonymity, having signed confidentiality agreements in exchange for severance compensation. Many worry that public statements could damage their prospects in an industry characterized by tight-knit professional networks.
A Sector at a Crossroads
These personal accounts illuminate a broader challenge facing developing nations such as the Philippines: what occurs when artificial intelligence begins automating positions that elevated millions into middle-class status? Each evening at approximately 5pm, crowds of employees sporting corporate identification badges emerge from towering office buildings in Manila’s Cubao district. This area represents one of multiple capital city zones where multinational corporations maintain facilities, offering diverse outsourcing services ranging from call centre operations and accounting to software engineering and marketing copywriting for international clients.
For more than twenty years, these commercial districts have embodied one of the Philippines’ most significant economic achievements. Starting in the early 2000s, the nation positioned itself as an English-speaking alternative to India for business process outsourcing. Successive administrations provided tax benefits, funded infrastructure improvements, and attracted multinational enterprises to establish substantial operations. Industry giants including Accenture, Concentrix, and Teleperformance constructed extensive campuses, employing hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers.
Currently, the outsourcing sector supports approximately 1.9 million employees and produces $40 billion (£30.1 billion) in annual revenue, representing roughly 10 percent of the national economy. Nevertheless, specialists warn that this industry faces disproportionate vulnerability to artificial intelligence disruption.
AI’s Growing Influence
The International Labour Organization projects that 12.7 million Filipinos—exceeding one in four workers—hold positions susceptible to generative AI, marking the highest proportion across Southeast Asia. While the organization anticipates that numerous roles will transform rather than vanish entirely, the specific service occupations prevalent in the Philippines create particular exposure.
Jack Madrid, president of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, acknowledges that artificial intelligence adoption is accelerating within the sector. He notes that over two-thirds of IBPAP member companies are currently conducting AI pilot programs.
“Agentic AI has the potential to automate at a much more accelerated pace,” Madrid says. “Obviously, there’s a layer of jobs that are automatable or have been automated.”
Madrid emphasizes that most impacted employees have been reassigned within their existing organizations. He suggests that hiring difficulties stem from factors beyond AI alone, including reduced global demand and hesitation among corporations regarding technology deployment strategies.
“We’ve seen a slowdown in investment decisions on whether certain job functions or processes should be offshored,” he says.
Nevertheless, Madrid recognizes the magnitude of the challenge ahead.
“We cannot do enough to be prepared,” he says. “The importance of reskilling” cannot be overstated.
Mary, another former content writer whose identity has been protected, describes how her employer promoted AI as a productivity enhancement. Rather than simplifying her duties, she explains that the technology introduced new obligations. She reports that employees needed to perform additional editing and verification because AI-generated information frequently contained errors.
“We had to edit more, fact-check more because the data AI produced was inaccurate,” she says. “Technically it was more work for us.”
Like Lisa, Mary eventually faced redundancy as the industry continues its transformation.
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