Job shortage risks wasting skills of Filipino graduates

By Erika Mae P. Sinaking, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES risks wasting the skills of a growing pool of graduates unless the economy generates more productive and stable jobs, analysts said.

The warning followed a rise in the country’s unemployment rate to 5.4% in September from 5.3% in August and 3.8% a year earlier, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The number of unemployed Filipinos reached 2.86 million in September, increasing by 909,000 from the 1.96 million in the same month last year.

Benjamin B. Velasco, an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman School of Labor and Industrial Relations, said population growth and the entry of graduates into the labor force without enough available jobs contributed to the increased joblessness in September.

“Population is increasing and graduates are entering the labor force but are not finding enough jobs due to a lackluster economy,”  Mr. Velasco told BusinessWorld in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“The economy is not doing well due to headwinds created primarily by global events — the Middle East war as well as climate change,” he added.

The Philippines’ labor force, which consisted of those aged 15 and over, stood at 53.19 million in September, higher than the 51.56 million a year ago. This was equivalent to a labor force participation rate of 64.5% in September, unchanged from a year ago.

Josua T. Mata, secretary-general of labor group Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, said fresh graduates are unable to find jobs matching their qualifications so they often settle for unrelated, lower-paying or contractual work.

Others turn to freelancing, pursue further training, start small businesses or seek employment abroad, he added.

“These are often compromises, not necessarily real opportunities,” he said over Viber.

Mr. Mapa said rising joblessness deepens inequality “because those who cannot afford further education, business opportunities, or overseas employment are left with fewer choices.”

“We risk producing a generation of educated workers whose skills and potential are wasted. Prolonged underemployment leads to skills deterioration, lower lifetime earnings, and reduced productivity,” Mr. Mata said.

Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro on Friday said some graduates may have qualifications that do not match available vacancies, while the country also lacks enough businesses to absorb new jobseekers.

The government plans to invest in emerging industries, provide upskilling and reskilling programs, and extend assistance to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to help them expand and hire more workers, she said.

However, Mr. Mata said government interventions would be worthwhile if they form part of a broader industrial policy.

Relying primarily on workers to acquire additional skills and adjust to available vacancies would not address the underlying problem if industries capable of employing them are not being developed, he added.

“It is also the failure of our economy to generate enough productive, higher-value jobs. Supporting MSMEs must mean helping them grow, modernize, move up the value chain, and provide decent, stable employment — not simply increasing the number of small businesses,” he said.

Sought for comment, the Department of Labor and Employment did not immediately reply as of press time.

For Mr. Mata, the longer-term challenge is ensuring that the country can take advantage of its pool of educated workers.

“We must stop treating this primarily as an employability problem. It is an economic development problem. The answer cannot simply be to produce graduates who can adjust to whatever jobs are available. We must build an economy capable of creating productive, decent, and rewarding jobs for the people we educate.

Meanwhile, Calixto V. Chikiamco, president and co-founder of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, said he was not surprised by the job losses in the construction industry.

“The decline in construction employment isn’t surprising given the reduced government spending on infrastructure due to the public works scandal and lower private residential and office construction due to higher interest rates and consumer uncertainty over energy prices,” he said in a Viber message.

PSA data showed the construction industry recorded the largest annual decline in employment in September, mainly due to higher material costs and weak infrastructure activity.

The number of construction workers fell by 271,000 year on year in September, making it the biggest contributor to the decline in employment across industries.