Greater transparency urged for skills certification

MANILA, Philippines — Local and foreign employers should be able to check the veracity of applicants’ skills certifications online to prevent jobs mismatch and enable them to offer adequate compensation for workers that meet their needs, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) said in a study.

In a new policy note titled “The Value of Labor Market Information Systems on International Labor Mobility,” the state-run think tank said technical-vocational training bodies like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) should enable employers to check a worker’s certificate online to confirm skills training and find workers who have also earned similar certifications.

The policy research institute also urged allowing a feedback mechanism on the websites wherein previous employers could provide comments to serve as reference to future employers.

Policy note author Leonardo Lanzona Jr. said allowing for greater transparency in the skills information of workers would weaken the practice of wage rigidity in which employers offer uniform wages to both productive and less productive workers because they have little means of determining and verifying the skills attainment of workers.

“While promoting jobs is beneficial, failure to match quality and skills of a potential worker to current employers needs may prolong unemployment. This may be addressed by providing full information of workers to prospective employers to facilitate their free movement,” he said.

Incomplete information in the labor marker brings challenges to both workers and employers.

Workers may be assigned jobs that do not match their skills and may not be given proper compensation for the work they accomplish.

Employers, on the other hand, are confronted with the dilemma that the uniform wages may be driving out their more productive workers.

“Firms, in general, are wary of reducing wages because doing so can cause the more productive workers to quit, leaving the less productive workers to stay in the country,” said Lanzona.