THE government’s provision to allow up to 100 percent work-from-home (WFH) arrangement for information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) companies is likely to stoke office demand in key provinces.

About 446 IT-BPM firms initially registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority have applied to shift registration to the Board of Investments (BOI).

These companies account for 41 percent of the 1,088 IT-BPM registered business enterprises (RBEs) under Peza.

In a statement sent, property research firm Colliers Philippines said the implementation of Fiscal Incentives Review Board (Firb) Resolution 026-22 should allow outsourcing firms to diversify and expand their footprint outside Metro Manila as they scout for talent in provincial areas.

The Firb Resolution 026-22 issued on Sept. 14 allows IT-BPM RBEs to adopt up to 100 percent WFH arrangement.

RBEs allowed to transfer to BOI are those which have remaining tax incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act.

As of Dec. 21, 2022, about 70 percent of applications had already been endorsed to BOI.

In the first nine months of 2022, Colliers recorded about 145,100 square meters of provincial transactions, up 49 percent year-on-year, with outsourcing companies accounting for 56 percent of total deals.

Among the provinces with the highest outsourcing transactions include Cebu (34,000 square meters), Davao (21,000 square meters) and Pampanga (9,000 square meters).