THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday said the perennial problem of jobs-skills mismatch is causing the continued high number of unemployed individuals in the country.
In a radio interview, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the country continues to be pestered by the mismatch between available jobs and existing skills of jobseekers.
“It is really that mismatch. It is really related to the problem. There are available jobs but the supply (of workers) does not match. It will really result to higher unemployment,” said Laguesma. “There appears to be a disconnect.” The labor chief cited as an example the recent job fair held by the DOLE, wherein some 100,000 jobs were offered to jobseekers.
“In the job fair, less than 5 percent of applicants were hired-on-the-spot. There were 100,000 available jobs but the applicants don’t have the skills they (employers) are looking for,” noted Laguesma.
He said this is the reason why they are putting premium in their skills development programs in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“It is really a challenge to hasten skills training. We need to have that link between finding jobs and having the necessary skills,” said Laguesma.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that the June 2022 Labor Force Survey showed there were 2.99 million jobless individuals.
