Advancing strategic alignment for a job-ready, future-ready workforce

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Assistant Secretary Joel M. Gonzales (top photo, rightmost) leads the meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) on 14 November 2025 at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila, to discuss key initiatives aimed at enhancing the skills and employability of the Filipino workforce. Assistant Secretary Gonzales conveyed Undersecretary Carmela I. Torres’s message, which expressed the Department’s commitment to further strengthening strategic alignment with PSAC to advance a job-ready and future-ready workforce. The meeting tackled the support from industry, academe, and civil society organizations for the Education and Workforce Development Group under Administrative Order 36 issued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. It also addressed proposed adjustments to the enhanced senior high school work immersion guidelines and the expansion of nationwide simultaneous job fairs. Assistant Secretary Gonzales underscored the vital role of tripartite industrial peace councils at the industry, regional, and national levels in advancing the administration’s employment agenda. Joining Assistant Secretary Gonzales are Bureau of Local Employment Director Patrick P. Patriwirawan, Jr., and Officer-in-Charge Jill A. Borjal of the BLE’s Policy Development Division. (Bottom photo) Representing PSAC in the meeting are Private Sector Jobs and Skills Corporation Chairperson Alfredo Ayala (2nd from left), Education Policy Lead Jose Andoni Santos (3rd from left), and PSAC–Education and Jobs Sector Group Head Secretariat Josephine Romero (leftmost). The Private Sector Advisory Council–Education and Jobs Sector Group (PSAC-EJSG) serves as a key advisory body, helping address the Philippines’ jobs and skills mismatch by providing policy and program recommendations to the government. (Photos by Alejandro Echavez, DOLE-IPS)