THE diminishing number of applicants had made certain occupations, such as nurses and drivers, for the tourism industry difficult to fill up, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Based on the results of the 2015/2016 Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment (ISLE), the PSA said the total of job vacancies in the tourism sector reached 55,000 between January 2015 and June 2016.
Around 74.3 percent or 40,600 occupations were considered easy-to-fill positions, but 25.7 percent or 14,100 jobs were considered hard-to-fill jobs.
“The top hard-to-fill occupations in tourism industry during the period were: nursing professionals [27 percent]; bus and tram drivers [14.8 percent]; medical imaging and therapeutic equipment technicians, and waiters at both 4.7 percent,” the PSA said.
In absolute numbers, PSA data showed the tourism industry needed 3,800 nursing professionals; 2,100 bus and tram drivers; 700 medical imaging and therapeutic equipment technicians; and 700 waiters during the period.
The main reasons these positions remained difficult to fill, PSA data showed, was there were few applicants for the jobs. This accounted for 40.2 percent or 1,200 of all hard-to-fill occupations.
Other top reasons include applicant’s lack of competency/skills, which accounted for 20.1 percent or 600 jobs, and lack of experience, which accounted for 12.2 percent or 400 hard-to-fill occupations.
Meanwhile, more than half or 52.1 percent of tourism establishments engaged in subcontracting. The PSA said these firms employed as much as 81,100 agency-hired workers on-site.
Only 11 percent or 600 of the workers hired from agencies were engaged in work outside the premises of tourist establishments.
As of June 30, 2016, around 6,000 establishments were engaged in tourism-related industries. These firms employed 456,500 workers during the period.
Six out of every seven or 85.2 percent of the total employed were rank and file workers. Managers/executives accounted for 6.4 percent; supervisors/foremen, 7.7 percent; and those considered working owners/unpaid workers, 0.8 percent.
The PSA data also showed that five in every seven rank-and-file workers or 71.8 percent were regular workers, while two out of seven were non-regular workers or 28.2 percent.
Moreover, three-fourths or 75.2 percent of non-regular workers were contractual/project-based workers and probationary workers followed by casual workers at 17.4 percent; seasonal workers, 4.2 percent; and apprentices/learners, 3.2 percent.
The ISLE is a nationwide sample survey conducted by the PSA. It covers about 12,926 establishments with 20 or more workers.