Fewer job vacancies in Metro firms

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday there were fewer job openings for jobseekers in Metro Manila despite the slight improvement in the economy over the past months. 

Data from the DOLE-Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) showed that the number of vacancies in Metro Manila firms dropped by more than half.

Based on the results of a labor turnover survey done in the second quarter of the year, there were 3,736 jobs available in more than 400 commercial establishments in the region. In the first quarter of the year, large enterprises in the metropolis reported over 9,000 vacancies.

According to BLES, the data had been gathered from 700 companies in Metro Manila as part of government efforts to capture the distribution of labor demand by type of occupation and skill in Metro Manila enterprises.

Labor officials said there are fewer jobs available for jobseekers in the second quarter of the year, probably because previous openings have already been filled up.

They noted that the hiring rate in the second quarter rose to 9.7 percent from 9.3 percent in the first quarter of the year.

The BLES survey also showed that almost half of the job openings came from enterprises engaged in financial intermediation.       

The top 10 occupations with the most number of vacancies accounted for 34.7 percent of the total job openings: service crew, cashiers, clerks and information technology officers.   – Mayen Jaymalin