Top in-demand jobs bared

MANILA, Philippines – In the next three years, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry will generate the most jobs for Filipinos in the country.

This, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), is a result of President Benigno Aquino III’s working visit to the US, where he tapped foreign companies to invest in the Philippines. The President has said he brought home more than US $2 billion worth of investments and at least 43,000 new jobs for Filipinos.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that because of new foreign investments, among the top in-demand jobs in the next three years are the following:

* call center agent
* customer service assistant
* technical support staff
* forklift operator
* accounting clerk
* mechanical engineer
* sales clerk
* driver
* cashier
* production worker

“It is good news, and that will really help in job generation… and address the poverty that continues to confront us,” Baldoz told reporters after the Senate’s deliberations on her agency’s proposed budget.

Baldoz also said the DOLE has begun setting up a “national skills registry” or job mapping that will help graduates match their skills with available jobs.

Senate finance committee chair Franklin Drilon said during the hearing that one of the DOLE’s problems in the past was its inability give sound advice to the youth and their parents regarding jobs.

Baldoz hopes new investments will give Flipinos a “genuine option” on whether to stay in the country or work abroad.

“The President looks forward that he could really set up the infrastructure for the revival of the economy,” she said. “This might not be done overnight but he is really determine to address the problems that hinder investments from coming in the country.”

Senators are also happy at what President Aquino brought home to the country from the US.

“This is a show of confidence in our president by foreign investors,” Drilon said.

Senator Ralph Recto, meanwhile, noted that the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) US $434-million grant to the Philippines is the highest amount ever given by the MCC to a country.

“This is a seal of good housekeeping insofar as this administration is concerned,” he said. “Nakikita natin na malaki ang interes sa Pilipinas, malaki ang pagasa na lalong lumaganap ang economic growth.” –Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News