Govt banks on manufacturing sector’s revival to hit target of creating 7M jobs

By Samuel P. Medenilla, Business Mirror, Dec 26, 2018

About 7 million jobs are expected to be generated in Key Employment Generating (KEG) industries by 2022, according to a new report by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

In its JobsFit 2022 Labor Market Information (LMI) Report, the DOLE said this is the target of the administration’s “Trabaho, Negosyo, at Kabuhayan” (Employment, Business and Livelihood) programs from 2017 to 2022.

Most, or 2.2 million of the 7 million new jobs, will come from the manufacturing sector, which the government is eyeing to revive via foreign investments, particularly from China.

“The planned revival of the manufacturing sector aims to generate more than half a million jobs coming from government-identified priority sectors, namely electronics; food processing; automotive; chemicals; iron and steel; and garments,” the DOLE said.

The Board of Investments (BOI) recently announced that investments for the manufacturing sector rose to P409.3 billion this year, from P96 billion in 2017.

The tourism industry is expected to create 1.62 million jobs, as the country continues to host over 7 million tourists.

Completing the top 3 KEGs is the construction industry with 1.02 million projected new employment opportunities.

Demand for new workers in the construction sector is particularly high, especially after the government embarked on a massive infrastructure push through its “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program.

The construction industry has been part of the KEGs since 2013, having a net employment growth of 669,000 since then.

Other promising KEGs is the wholesale and retail sector, which could generate 866,000 new jobs; information technology and business-process management (IT-BPM), 756,000 jobs; and transportation and logistics, 413,000 jobs.

JobsFit 2022 also identified agri-business; banking and finance; education; and health wellness as KEGs. However, it did not come up with employment projections for the four industries.

The report is a result of the DOLE’s review of the labor market and economic indicators, consultation with industry associations. It also made use of the Philippine Employment Projections Model 2013 to 2022 covering 72 sectors and 18 industries.