Employers also look for socioemotional skills when hiring

By Czeriza Valencia (The Philippine Star), Dec 11, 2017

MANILA, Philippines — Around two-thirds of employers in the Philippines have difficulty filling vacancies as most workers lack the appropriate socioemotional skills or those pertaining to leadership, work ethic and interpersonal skills, according to a report by the World Bank.

In a report, the World Bank said the government should address the issue by improving the education system to enhance the employability of Filipinos.

The report showed workers with strong socioemotional or behavioral skills command wages that are 10 percent higher than workers with the same qualification but possess less of these behavioral skills. This particularly benefits women, young workers and less educated workers.

Because the education and vocational training system in the country has been slow to meet the demand for behavioral skills development, more firms are now investing in trainings to develop the socioemotional skills of their workforce.

The World Bank study is part of a household survey initiative under the international umbrella program Skills for Employability and Productivity (STEP). Socioemotional skills requisite for quality employment are identified as the following in the order of importance: managerial and leadership skills; work ethic and commitment; interpersonal and communication skills; technical, vocational or job-specific skills; foreign language skills, computer or general IT skills and writing skills.

“These intangible skills are increasingly crucial to jobs generated by the global economy,” World Bank country director for the Philippines Mara Warwick said.

The report said the Philippines achieved “remarkable progress” in raising the education level of its workforce since the 1950s and is now in a position to start advancing the behavioral skills of its workforce.

“Primary school is the optimal time for shaping socioemotional skills, but the elementary education curriculum devotes limited resources to their development,” the report said.

“Schools continue to be judged solely by students’ performance on cognitive achievement tests rather than on soft-skills competencies, and teachers are not appropriately trained to foster the development of those competencies. Developing these should be a priority.”

World Bank also urges the government to embed socioemotional skills in the K-12 curriculum and prepare teachers for the delivery of content. It likewise urges mainstreaming the development of behavioral skills in technical-vocational training programs provided by the government.

“The behavioral skills necessary to succeed in the labor market must be taught throughout childhood. Schools are well-placed to teach these skills,” said Pablo Acosta, World Bank senior economist specializing in social protection and jobs. “Vocational counseling and apprenticeships can also help workers improve their behavioral skills and job prospects,” he said.