A leader of the House of Representatives has pushed for the creation of national database of all available and in-demand domestic job opportunities for Filipino workers in a bid to address the persisting job-skills mismatch in several industries.
This as Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano noted that the abundance of opportunities for Filipino skilled workers, owes to the country’s booming construction industry.
In particular, she cited the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program that seeks to accelerate public infrastructure spending. Projected to reach P8 to 9 trillion between 2017 and 2022, this massive infrastructure program has opened over 25,000 job positions for Filipinos.
“Public spending on construction, whether by local government units or the national government, is on the rise all over the country. The private sector has also been investing and contributing,” Cayetano, a deputy speaker, said.
Despite such opportunities, she noted that many Filipinos still find it hard to get employed because they do not possess the skills required for the job openings.
“This is why we need to ensure that our skilled workers are really the best,” she said.
Cayetano said the country has to put up a database of all actual and projected job opportunities so we will know which industries will be in demand in the next few years.
“That way, we can also prepare our students and workers better for these jobs,” she added.