Philippines, ILO hammer out employment strategy

There were more than 1.5 million unemployed Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 24 last year, the International Labour Organization said Wednesday, prompting the Geneva, Switzerland-based labor institution and the Philippines to forge a strategic approach to the problem.

“For some youth, the challenge of finding employment can be daunting, Lawrence Jeff Johnson, ILO Philippine office director, said.

“Those who are not able to transition into decent and productive work can be overcome by a sense of frustration and negativity during a time that is meant to be full of hope,” Johnson added.

Seeking to address concerns on youth employment and migration in the Philippines, the ILO held a series of nationwide action planning workshops late last month. Among their activities were a youth employment forum dubbed, “Kahit Saan, Kahit Kailan: Marangal na Trabaho para sa Kabataan Matatagpuan (Any Time, Any Where: Decent Work for Young Filipinos),” during which over a hundred youth leaders and representatives met with government agency officials, workers and employers group, the academe, and civil society organizations.

According to ILO, young people on average are more likely to be unemployed by adults. Globally, 74.8-million youth aged 15 to 24 were unemployed in 2011–over 1.5 million of them were Filipinos. The figure shows an increase of more than 4 million since 2007. The situation was further aggravated by the global financial crisis, the ILO said.

Johnson noted that even among the employed Filipino youth, 2.3 million were in vulnerable forms of employment in 2010. The ILO director explained that vulnerable employment is often characterized by inadequate earnings, poor working conditions, and lack of social protection–social security or health insurance–and social dialog.

“This is of equal or greater concern as they are often left with little choice but to accept or create whatever work they can find, just so they and their loved ones can survive,” said Johnson.

The National Youth Commission and the Department of Labor and Employment’s Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (DOLE-BWSC) came up with the National Action Plan on Youth Employment and Migration. The plan details seven strategies based on the paper “Alternative Pathways: Toward Charting an Actionable Framework for Youth Employment and Migration.”

The seven strategies are to:

• promote youth employment rich opportunities
• realize responsive education, training, and career coaching modalities
• improve labor market information systems
• strengthen workers’ rights awareness and social protection initiatives
• harness migration gains and minimize its risks
• provide meaningful voice and representation venues
• and promote cultural and heritage appreciation.

The forum aims to serve as a platform for young people, policy-makers and the social partners to dialogue on the results of the National Action Plan for Youth Employment and Migration in the Philippines, exchange views on the local national youth employment situation and to share good practices.

It also expects to contribute to raising awareness on the urgency of promoting decent and productive work for youth. Results and conclusions of the forum will be part of the global discussion on the youth employment crisis at the 101th Session of the International Labour Conference, which will be held from May 30 to June 15 in Geneva, Switzerland. —Carmela Lapeña/VS, GMA News