Philippines Sees Engineering Outsourcing Growth After Pandemic
Engineering outsourcing is still in its infancy in the Philippines. But with the increase in remote work, growth in the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, engineering service outsourcing (ESO) is expected to grow rapidly once the pandemic clears.
At the moment, engineering outsourcing tasks – encompassing construction, technology, telecommunications, automotive and marine – are focused on design, according to a government report. But the outlook seems bright following the 6% increase in the number of ESO companies established from 2006 to 2016, and the matching increase in revenue.
Challenges to Philippine Engineering Outsourcing
On top of the usual hurdles in business process outsourcing (BPO) such as language barriers and cultural differences, engineering outsourcing in the Philippines presents additional technical obstacles. This year has been particularly challenging with the cessation in construction and other engineering projects due to the Covid-19.
Quality of Skills
Hard skills are imperative to boost engineering outsourcing. This includes primarily raising the quality of math and science education, English proficiency, and the focus on customer orientation.
Talent Pool Readiness
To be able to accept outsourced engineering tasks, the workforce needs to have a large pool of scientists and engineers, as well as independent research institutions with unassailable integrity, and the availability of specialized training courses.
Infrastructure
This includes the overall infrastructure quality of the power supply, wired and wireless subscriptions, internet bandwidth and speed.
Business Environment
There is a need to strengthen intellectual property rights as well as maintaining investment-friendly tax rates.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Engineering Tasks to Philippines
While tasks such as admin, writing, or marketing can be easily and reliably outsourced to the Philippines, engineering is much more complicated and highly exacting. It requires compliance to strict industry and government standards of construction, as well as the client’s requirements.
The challenges notwithstanding, engineering outsourcing companies in the Philippines are actively looking into addressing these challenges to ensure that the industry thrives. There continues to be many benefits to outsourcing engineering tasks to Philippine service providers:
Improved Processes
As construction is expected to rebound once the pandemic is lifted, engineering companies have also streamlined processes and have begun to use innovative techniques and methods to ensure that projects are not delayed amid the pandemic.
STEM Education
The Department Science and Technology has awarded an increasing number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) scholarships and internships to high school students in recent years to ensure skills are available to sustain the future workforce. Some private schools have begun to do the same to prepare students for STEM-focused college work.
The creation of the necessary training manuals by clients and conducting online trainings for outsourced teams has allowed remote workers to upskill to new specializations and gain familiarity with engineering projects. Such trainings have also paved the way for resolving cultural differences.
Time Management
Due to the time zone difference, companies find it difficult to coordinate with Philippine outsourcing companies. However, with the government’s support, Philippine engineering companies have set up 24-hour operations in three work shifts to be available to clients anywhere in the world.
Remote Supervision
Supervising a team from overseas is certainly a difficult task. Some of the ways this concern has been resolved is by enabling the client to assign a person responsible for training, monitoring, and supervising the remote outsourced team. This ensures that the remote team adheres to the client’s standards, and as small a margin of error as possible.
Language
This is not a problem for Philippines since a good portion of its workforce most hold high proficiency in the English language and a 95% literacy rate. This gives them an edge in the outsourcing race over countries like China and India.
Costs
Cost is always an important consideration, and here is where the Philippines shines. The country has enough qualified engineers whose salaries are half that of their western counterparts due to the lower cost of living in the country.
Flexible Engineering Outsourcing Options
If you are looking to outsource some of your business’s engineering processes, consider partnering with Yempo. We employ highly skilled engineers who have experience working with global companies. Whether yours is a small or large enterprise, our flexible offshoring solutions can be tailored to your needs. To learn more about our offering, contact us today!