NEDA proposes job hotline,retraining for idle Pinoys

The national government should create an employment hotline for those affected by the global economic crisis, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Wednesday.

Socioeconomic Planning Director General Ralph Recto said the hotline will help those Filipinos who have lost their jobs in seeking new employment in the country or abroad.

Besides assistance in looking for a new job, Recto added that the hotline will also help Filipinos to get trained again, through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and entrepreneurship training by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Instructions in securing loans from banks, he said, will also be offered to the unemployed who may be planning to put up businesses.

Recto added that government agencies such as the Labor, Trade and Social-Welfare departments are working on the hotline project.

The hotline will be for the “guidance” of the people,” he told reporters.

Through it, Recto said, the government will really know the exact number of unemployed Filipinos in the country.

The global financial crisis continues to take its toll on local unemployment.

The government recently reported that more than 15,000 jobs have been lost mostly in the electronics and garments sectors over the past two months amid plunging global demand for the country’s top two exports.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said that up to 60,000 IT workers in the country may lose their jobs this year.
— Chino S. Leyco, Manila Times