DOLE: ‘Hard-to-fill’ jobs growing

Hiring a worker seems to be getting as difficult as finding a job.

Records from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed there is a steadily increasing number of job vacancies as well as workers seeking employment over the past three years.

Based on the DOLE data, a total of 1.3 million job vacancies nationwide were posted in 2004, up from 1.2 million unfilled positions in 2003. This figure rose to 1.37 million last year.

A total of 1.23 million job applicants registered with the DOLE-Public Employment Offices nationwide in 2003. The number of jobseekers dropped slightly to 1.13 million in 2004 and rose again to 1.14 million in 2005.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) secretary general Augusto Syjuco said that while there are many job openings, there are not many workers who possess the competencies required to fill these positions.

Syjuco said college-degree courses produce some 350,000 graduates annually and only 20 percent of these graduates find jobs, while vocational training courses produce 1.3 million graduates and the graduates from vocational courses enjoy a 60-percent employment rate.

He also said these figures suggest that employers prefer to hire skilled vocational training graduates over college graduates, who may not have the skills and competencies needed to fill the job openings available.

"The problem lies in the so-called job mismatch, which we in the education and training sector must address quickly," Syjuco said.

He said the government is now implementing the "ladderized" education program that aims to enable young Filipinos to complete their college education after undergoing vocational training.

Syjuco said that close to 100 institutions nationwide are now offering ladderized education and more schools are expected to provide the same program soon. — Mayen Jaymalin