Sri Lanka's ICT Workforce Doubles in the Past Four Years

24th June 2011, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lanka's information and communications technology workforce has doubled in the past four years as the island ramps up training and investment to make the sector a key export industry.

A new survey said the number of ICT sector jobs increased by 100 percent to over 62,000 this year from 30,120 in 2006. Over 50,000 people are estimated to have been employed in the IT sector in 2010.

The national ITC workforce survey by the state-run Information and Communication Technology Agency covered 80 state institutions, 325 private sector firms, 30 BPO (business processing outsourcing) firms, and 75 IT training institutes.

It also showed that the number of female workers in the BPO sector was increasing and now accounted for 43 percent of the total BPO workforce

Reshan Dewapura, chief executive of ICTA, there had been 4,473 ICT graduates in 2010 of whom 3,970 were employed.

The ICT sector earns 375 million dollars a year and is now the island's fifth highest foreign exchange earner, he told a news conference.

The industry aims to increase the ICT sector export earnings to a billion dollars by 2016, he said.

Related Info :

• Sri Lanka Offers IT BPO Companies Tax Holidays upto 12 Years. Australian Business Consultancy Firm CAMMS Sees Sri Lanka as the Next Big Opportunity

• Sri Lanka IT/BPO Sector Targets Niche Markets in Finance & Accounting, Telco, Travel and Aviation

• Sri Lankan IT & BPO Industry to Grow by 26pct in 2011. SLASSCOM Launches Careers Initiative for Capacity Building