No applicant suited for 6.18 million vacancies posted on Phil-JobNet

Filipinos, especially first-time workers, may be getting hard to please in terms of the jobs they apply for.

At the official launch of the Human Development Report on Monday, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said that this is one of the reasons the Phil-JobNet’s job vacancies have accumulated to whopping 6.18 million openings as of the end of 2015.

This represents an increase of 1,662 percent from the 350,496 job vacancies posted in Phil-JobNet in 2010. Baldoz said about 60 percent of these job posting are local and only 40 percent are overseas.

“’Yung iba they want kaagad malaki ang sweldo but they are first timers na nag-e-enter sa world of work so meron silang misconception na kahit wala silang experience, they can demand for higher [pay], ayaw nilang minimum-wage earner sila,” Baldoz said.

She added that some employers could not find the skills they need among jobseekers. This is the reason why many companies require additional training, which job seekers may not be keen on undergoing.

Baldoz said that this is a direct reflection of the jobs-skills mismatch in the country, particularly among young workers who may just be joining the labor force and, thus, lack the experience that may provide them with real-world skills.

She added that other reasons include the location of the jobs that are available. Baldoz said a bulk of the jobs openings are in Region 4A or Calabarzon, Region 3 or Central Luzon, Cebu and Davao.

However, another reason, Baldoz said, is the presence of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) families. The monthly remittance these families receive, she aded, allow family members to live comfortably even if they are unemployed.

“’Yung iba do not look for work, maybe they have family [members] who are OFWs that [provide] monthly remittance na dumadating so hindi din sila ganun ka-pressured to look for work. We have so many vacancies [and] there are quite a number of reasons there are still job seekers who still cannot find work,” Baldoz said.

Along with the increase in vacancies, National Economic and Development Authority Director General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan stressed that the number of jobless Filipinos is on the decline.

In the October 2015 results of the Labor Force Survey, the Philippine Statistics Authority said unemployment posted a record low of 5.6 percent.

Balisacan said this was the first time the unemployment rate fell below the 6.6-percent and 6.8-percent target of the government. He said the decline was largely due to the efforts of the government to boost the services and industry sectors, including efforts to invest in social services.

“Expenditures for social services have significantly increased, wherein the average social-services expenditures per person over the past five years, adjusted for inflation, are now 37 percent higher than the same expenditures from 2005 to 2009,” he said.

Balisacan added that the number of unemployed Filipinos are expected to decline further in the long term, mainly due to the K to 12 Program which adds two more years to basic education.

He said the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, which provides cash assistance to families, will ensure that children attend school regularly.

The government is also investing in the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to help young Filipinos meet the demands of a changing work environment. –Cai Ordinario, Businessmirror