BPO, ICT to remain top job generators in 2015

CEBU, Philippines – The business process outsourcing and information and communications technology industries will remain the top employment generators this year, the Department of Labor and Employment said.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz also noted the employment generation from sectors such as infrastructure, construction, tourism and industry would remain high this 2015.

“Sila yung mga top generators ng employment sa 2014 but we expect them to continue generating more jobs this year,” the secretary told The FREEMAN in an interview during her recent visit in Cebu.

She said the labor agency, in fact, is expecting the jobs that these industries are going to generate would further increase this year.

DOLE also announced job vacancies would also be available in food and beverage, processed food, garment and trading sectors.

Prospective workers in these industries must have a national certificate from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to be qualified, it said.

Those who are planning to work overseas may also consider entering these jobs as these also offer good salaries. The agency has estimated around 600,000 domestic helpers are working in other countries.

Baldoz also mentioned emerging jobs in 2015 include those in the sectors of mining, shipbuilding, hotel, gaming and entertainment.

“Expanding kasi ang area ng services sector especially ng  mga big hotels and resorts na ang dami na ngayon. Ang infrastructure din na funded ng government and the private sector dahil alam naman natin na naka-develop na yung infrastructure plan ng gobyerno,” the cabinet official explained.

Phil-JobNet, an internet-based job and applicant matching system of DOLE, will have 200,000 job vacancies at any given time this year and a little over 100,000 expected applicants, the labor official noted. Phil-JobNet aims to fasten the jobseeker’s search for jobs and the employer’s search for manpower.

Employment rate

Baldoz expressed hope the country’s employment rate this year would further improve after the unemployment rate fell to six percent in October last year.

The labor department said the nation’s employment rate increased to 94 percent in October 2014, up from 93.6 percent in the same period a year ago.  The labor participation rate also improved to 64.3 percent from 63.9 percent.

But the underemployment rate, the measure of people already working but looking for another work, increased to 18.7 percent in 2014 from 18 percent a year ago.

“Since, we ended up with an improved employment situation, isu-sustain natin ito, if we can’t lower it some more ang unemployment rate, at least ma-maintain natin yung six percent,” Baldoz said.

She assured youth employment programs would be reinforced, saying 50 percent of the unemployed people come from the youth sector.

Ph labor in Asean

The labor chief stressed the big challenge in the labor sector now is preparing workers to be certified in order to be competitive in the ASEAN economic integration.

“Ang PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) ay nagre-review na ng kanilang training regulations with international standards,” she said.

She also explained the Philippine Qualifications Framework can now be matched with the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework to determine comparison in terms of standards, licensing and qualifications in the ASEAN labor market.

The consultation on PQF and AQRF seeks to prepare Filipino professionals, workers and industries for the economic integration and help them understand the concept, principles and processes of both frameworks.

The skills of Filipino workers should further be strengthened so they would not be lagged behind their ASEAN counterparts in terms of labor productivity, Baldoz noted.

According to a study by International Labor Organization and Asian Development Bank, the ASEAN integration may add an estimated 3.1 million jobs to the Philippine labor market.

The study said the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community could increase by 60 percent the demand for high-skilled employment such as professionals, associate professionals, managers and technicians.

TESDA is now directly linking its training programs to companies and factories fro skills development of workers, she said.

Job-ready, skilled and competent workers help produce competitive companies.

The study also suggested the Philippines should act on priority areas such as creating better jobs, upgrading skills to meet shifting demand, enhancing social protection programs and improving legal and social protection migrant workers.