CEBU, Philippines - Creating enough jobs for the people is an urgent challenge for an economy like the Philippines that has achieved robust economic growth in recent years.
The country’s good economic performance has not totally translated into inclusive employment growth as many citizens have not yet entered the formal labor sector.
According to Ezequiel Sarcauga, director of the Department of Labor and Employment-7, sufficient job creation is not easy because the labor force is continuously growing.
“Di lalim ang pag-create of jobs kay when you create jobs, daghan pud ang moapil sa labor force,” said Sarcauga in an interview.
The Commission on Higher Education estimates the country produces around 500,000 new college graduates joining the already saturated job market every year.
While not all of these graduates can join the formal labor sector, others take overseas employment opportunities and the informal sector to be employed. But the two are not enough to meet the growing demand for employment.
Those who have no college degrees usually land in informal jobs which generally have low wages and low productivity.
‘Improve formal sector’
Sarcauga pointed out increasing the employment in formal sector industries -- business process outsourcing, manufacturing, services, finance, real estate, etc. -- is one solution to address the jobs challenge.
In October, the country’s jobless rate dropped to six percent which is equal to an estimated 2.5 million unemployed Filipinos, down from 2.6 million a year ago. Government data also showed the labor force participation rate was estimated at 64.3 percent, up from 63.9 a year earlier.
In a report, the World Bank in the Philippines said that by 2016, around 12.4 million Filipinos would still be unemployed, underemployed or would have to work in the informal sector.
The lingering problem of mismatch between the skills of Filipinos and the demands of the labor market has also contributed a problem in the industry, the labor official explained.
He added the labor agency has long been working with the academe in ensuring the degree programs offered in universities match the kind of jobs the economy would generate.
He mentioned the K to 12 as an education system that allows students learn basic and advanced skills through training so they will be equipped once they enter the world of work.
He said majority of the employees still work in the services sector which is largely contributing to the nation’s total economic output.
Many are also employed in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors which, Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba said, have to be revived as they have big growth potentials.
“It is important for us to transform the economy; so, there’s got to be a structural transformation,” said Aldaba in a forum in Cebu, noting the resurgence of the two industries would create additional jobs for Filipinos.
Young workforce
The director further noted the nation’s population growth and rising young potential workforce would demand for more and better jobs.
The Philippines is said to be entering by 2015 and in coming years the state of demographic sweet spot where majority of the populace will be of working age.
Demographic sweet spot is also that time when the country’s large population becomes an advantage to the economy.
According to the statistics agency, Philippines is among the Southeast Asian nations -- Lao PDR and Cambodia -- that possess young population, having a median age 23 years.
In terms of young workforce, he said the Philippines is incomparable to other countries like Japan whose workers are getting older. (FREEMAN)