The success of business process outsourcing (BPO) in the Philippines has led to another boom in the country. The number of schools offering and catering to BPO (call center, medical transcription, IT) has increased in the last five years. These schools offer everything from short-courses to degree programs. A college degree is not always a requirement when entering these schools, which means, drop-outs get a new lease in life.

There are now at least 17 companies offering medical transcription services in the Philippines. Most of these companies have now started to venture into medical transcriptionists (MT) training in order to ensure that they will have enough supply of MT to meet the manpower demands of the industry. This system works for the benefit of the company because they are assured that the people they hire are at par with the standards they require.

All MT students are required to pass the certification program of the government office Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA). This certification program is an agreement set by the Philippine Government and the US government, currently our biggest medical transcription client, to ensure that local transcriptionists possess the qualification and maturity to engage in this kind of work. This agreement is part of outsourcing business promotion initiated by the government to lure investors in.

In the call center (contact center) business, the same scheme applies. Contact center companies have in-house training programs for newly hired employees. The training programs are designed specifically to meet the requirements and standards of the company. These schools, whether they are in-house or not, follow the same set of criteria for training and testing in order to ensure that employees are fully qualified to do the tasks.

Aside from these, some universities and colleges have started offering vocational training for several BPO-related industries. These are cheaper alternatives to the ones being offered by medical transcription companies and cater more to less affluent students.

The growth of BPO industry has spurred the growth of related or affiliated industries. Information technology businesses have long been benefiting from BPOs. The most recent addition to this growing list are schools and training centers.