Colliers Philippines' Q4 2024 property briefing, published through CREBA, recorded Metro Manila office vacancy at 19.8 percent at end-2024, with a forecast of 22.0 percent for 2025. That is a tenant-leaning market, which matters because it gives providers, and by extension their clients, room to negotiate.
Headline office rates in submarkets where BPO space is concentrated, in pesos per square meter per month (Colliers, Q4 2024):
- Quezon City: P650 to P850
- Bay Area, fitted space: P600 to P1,200
- Ortigas CBD, fitted space: P850 to P1,100
- Makati CBD: P1,100 to P1,300
- BGC, fitted space: P1,200 to P1,700
For smaller teams, the more relevant figure is the flexible workspace cost per seat, which Colliers tracked in the same briefing: P8,000 to P38,000 per month in Makati, P13,000 to P25,000 in Fort Bonifacio, and P7,000 to P18,000 in Quezon City. Provincial seats are cheaper: P7,500 to P20,000 in Cebu, P8,000 to P9,000 in Davao, and P6,000 to P9,000 in Iloilo. Dedicated BPO seat-leasing vendors market bundled workstations at $200 to $500 per seat per month, including internet, security, and utilities, though these are self-published rates and should be treated as marketing figures.
Put the cited inputs together and the arithmetic is straightforward. An admin salary near P20,000 plus a serviced seat between P8,000 and P25,000 gives a direct cost of roughly P28,000 to P45,000 per person per month, before statutory contributions, supervision, recruitment, and provider margin are added.
