DOLE: No takers for 10,000 jobs

There are few applicants for an average 10,000 job vacancies being posted daily by various commercial establishments nationwide.

A survey by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed 7,000 jobs in the country are hard to fill, with professionals comprising the bulk and blue collar jobs at the bottom of the list.

Teresita Manzala, director of the Bureau of Local Employment, said technical positions are more in demand as compared to those of professionals like architects, accountants, business analysts, teachers and geodetic engineers.

"We have been posting in DOLE website at least 10,000 vacancies a day," she said. "Each position ordinarily takes a long while to be filled in."

Manzala said among the commercial firms reporting vacancies are those engaged in manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, hotel and restaurant business, real estate, health and social work.

The list of top 20 hard-to-fill jobs are a mix of high paying positions like those of accountants, engineers and computer programmers, and those with low pay like seamstresses and drivers, she added.

Manzala said DOLE is undertaking a study to determine the most in-demand jobs which would be submitted to the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

With the study, the next generation of Filipinos would be given an idea on what course to take in college so they could immediately find jobs after graduation, she added.–Mayen Jaymalin