DOLE to youth: Join JobStart PH, develop life skills

MANILA, 25 Feb. (PIA)–The Department of Labor & Employment (DOLE) advised youth to join JobStart Philippines and develop life skills to be able to jumpstart their careers, be it as wage earner or as entrepreneurs.

In a statement, Labor & Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said, JobStart seeks to help young people jumpstart their careers by creating opportunities to improve their technical skills and develop the life skills necessary for success in a workplace.

“It introduces the full-cycle employment facilitation service, a comprehensive and systematic approach in assisting young jobseekers, from planning their career paths all the way through acquiring the best-fit jobs through career guidance, life skills and technical training, and internship,” Baldoz explained.

Based on the records of DOLE, youth comprises almost half or 49.1 percent of the country’s 2.4 million unemployed population.

“Skills gap, or the mismatch between labor demand and supply, is the culprit for the high youth unemployment in the country,” Baldoz said.

“Forty-four percent of our unemployed have reached or graduated from high school; 35.3 percent, on the other hand, graduated from college,” Baldoz added.

The labor and employment chief said graduates ought to realize that in the current situation, the school-to-work transition in the Philippines is long.

To speed up the school-to-work transition, Baldoz said young people should take cognisance of what employers’ articulated: entry-level employees lack life skills—and do something about it.

In particular, they need to improve their attitudes towards work and in the work place. They need to enhance their presentation and communication skills.

JobStart is funded by the Government of Canada through the Asian Development Bank. The DOLE, through the Bureau of Local Employment, executes the program, while the LGUs and the PESOs serve as implementing agencies and employers as partners.

To be able to join JobStart, a participant needs to be between 18-24 years old; at least high school graduates; no job experience or have no more than one (1) year of experience; and currently not in employment, not enrolled in school or in any training, and actively seeking work.

Once selected, an applicant will undergo the following stages: assessment of participant’s job readiness and enhanced career guidance; selection of full beneficiaries; life skills training; job matching; interview and selection by employers; training plan preparation; signing of internship contract; technical training; and internship with employers. (DOLE/RJB/SDL/PIA-NCR)

– See more at: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/231424758307/dole-to-youth-join-jobstart-ph-develop-life-skills#sthash.jtxBpxC3.dpuf