Health sector, online businesses are ‘in’ jobs under new normal

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CABINET Secretary Karlo Nograles said new graduates and graduating students should “re-think your game plan” and consider careers in the health and medicals sectors, education, and online services as the country adapts with a “new normal” due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Nograles, who is also the concurrent co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), reminded graduating students and those who have recently graduated that some sectors will take an employment dip because of the impact to the economy of the more than two months of lockdown in various provinces, including Metro Manila.

These sectors include, among others, transportation and manual labor because of the mandated social distancing protocol, manufacturing businesses.

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He said that while it was so on these businesses, there are others that are “resilient, remain extremely relevant and are in fact booming despite the prevailing global health crisis.”

Nograles, during the Pre-employment Preparation Webinar series conducted by the Far Eastern University Career and Placement Office, said: “We all need to be persistent and creative. Know what and where to look for employment-wise in these challenging times. No one is immune from the fallout brought by Covid-19. Everyone in both the public and private sector is affected, and our government is doing its best to provide social and economic safety nets.”

Nograles said government is expecting an increased demand for graduates skilled in information technology, online services and online retail businesses, health care and medicine, education, logistics and personal assistance services.

He said students should also consider doing volunteer work while searching for regular employment as a means of developing individual skills and expanding their network which could help them secure employment and other livelihood opportunities in the future.

“There are uncertainties especially among the young, but there are still many prospects. It is expected that some will be concerned. Let’s remain optimistic and think there are many opportunities out there,” he said.

Nograles said even the education sector needs to adapt to the “new normal” through the institutionalization of the new blended or online learning scheme, flexible learning options such as open high schools, alternative delivery modes and satellites for off-grid areas.

“We’re keeping up with the everyday challenges of Covid-19 and we’re slowly easing in systems that would benefit every Filipino — young and old, student, worker, homemaker, entrepreneurs. Let’s all be positive and supportive. We’re all in this fight together,” he said.

The Department of Labor and Employment last week said it expects some four to five million people will become unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that ensued in various parts of the country starting March.

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