Lots of job vacancies in RP still unfilled
By Rose Palacio
Philippine Information Agency
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — There are lots of job vacancies in the country, but unfilled jobs do not match the demands of these industries with job openings.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said based on government figures, there are about nine million jobs, both local and overseas that remained vacant till 2010.
Secretary Brion said that while unemployment remains a pressing problem, the high number of jobs is also a major concern.
The reality is that there are plenty of jobs waiting to be filled by qualified workers, he said.
Brion said the hard-to-fill jobs are in mining, hotel and restaurants, agribusiness, maritime, shipbuilding, health and medical tourism, construction and cyber services.
What keeps the jobseekers from landing jobs is that the supply of manpower does not meet the demands of these industries, he said.
Some critical skills are either missing or need to be improved on among the jobseekers.
Brion said the DOLE spearheaded recently a National Human Resource Conference to come out with appropriate measures to generate productive and competitive workforce in these sectors.
The DOLE chose to focus on education and training, labor relations and human relations in the workspace, he added.
Jobs generation is one of the 10-point agenda President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and she wants this problem to be addressed immediately, Secretary Brion said. (PIA XI Dispatch/rbpalacio)
