Ranks of Pinoy youth working part-time swells — ILO

(Updated 12:17) The ranks of Filipino youth working part-time is increasing, raising concerns over the quality of employment for those joining the job market for the first time, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Thursday.

In a report titled “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013: A generation at risk,” the ILO said in the Philippines “the share of youth working part‐time (less than 30 hours per week) increased notably from 26.6 percent [in 2008] to 32.0 percent [in 2009].”

However, the ILO also sees an encouraging development, saying there was a slight decrease in youth unemployment from 18.6 percent to 17.3 percent in 2008 and 2009.

The ILO defines youth as those aged 15‐24 years.

Latest government data show that last January 33.9 percent of the 40.8 million people in the labor force were part-time workers.

The unemployment rate was recorded at 7.1 percent of the labor force, government data showed.

The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment defines the labor force as Filipinos aged 15 and over who are employed or are looking for jobs.

The ILO noted the increasing percentage of part-time youth workers coincided with the 2008 financial crisis.

“Since the onset of the global economic and jobs crisis in 2008, part‐time work seemed to have become an increasingly significant part of labor market adjustments for youth in the Philippines,” the report read.

Limited access to education in developing nations, like the Philippines, may have caused the increasing ratio of part-time youth workers, the ILO surmised.

“School-to-work transition surveys of developing countries show that youth are far more likely to land low quality jobs in the informal economy than jobs paying decent wages and offering benefits,” the report read.

“Access to education and training remains a major stumbling block,” it added.

As such, the impact of employment trend among the youth “could be felt for decades,” the ILO noted.

The ILO sees 73.4 million young people, or 12.6 percent of the global youth population, to be out of work in 2013, up 3.5 million since 2007.
While noting the country’s education system is partly to blame, labor expert and former dean at the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations Rene Ofreneo also said the statistics bear out the fact of lack of quality jobs in the country.

“Bihira ‘yung full-time, sustainable jobs… and reports like this affirm that… it affirms claims of labor groups that contractualization is on the high,” he said.

Quality jobs refer to employment that provide decent wages, job security, advancement opportunities, and healthy working environment where workers are treated fairly and have a voice in their daily activities at work and about the overall working conditions, according to the American Center for Law and Social Policy.

Ofreneo said that while lack of skilled workers “emphasizes limited access to quality education,” the youth will not be “compelled to train” if there are no quality jobs available.

“Job creation, job creation and job creation – that’s what is needed. This could be achieved through industry revival and modernization of agriculture,” he said.

As the problem persists, the impact of employment trend among the youth “could be felt for decades,” the ILO noted.

The ILO sees 73.4 million young people, or 12.6 percent of the global youth population, to be out of work in 2013, up 3.5 million since 2007.

“Behind this worsening figure, the report shows persistent unemployment, a proliferation of temporary jobs and growing youth discouragement in advanced economies; and poor quality, informal, subsistence jobs in developing countries,” the report read. — VS, GMA News