FILIPINOS are innate enterpreneurs who value the opportunity of venturing into a business and succeed through hard work. They believe that amid economic hardship, venturing into their own business will improve their lives, a study revealed.
Based on the first LinkedIn Opportunity Index in Asia Pacific, the Philippines ranked third in terms of how people perceive opportunity and barriers that may prevent them from succeeding.
Garnering a score of 106, this country, tied up with China, is considered “most confident” in gaining access to and pursuing opportunities.
They are of the same level of optimism with Indonesia (116 points) and India (111 points), taking the top 2 spots. Malaysia, meanwhile, is the fifth most-confident nation in the region, with 101 points.
More developed markets, however, such as Singapore (91 points), Australia (90 points), Hong Kong (85 points) and Japan (79 points) trailed in the ranking from sixth to ninth places, respectively.
The research showed that people in these markets are concerned with their country’s economic outlook and, generally, more cautious on their chances of accessing and achieving success with opportunities that are significant to them.
“We believe access to opportunity should be universal and for everyone,” said Olivier Legrand, managing director of LinkedIn in Asia Pacific.
“With the inaugural LinkedIn Opportunity Index, our aim is to gain an insight into the aspirations of people across the Asia-Pacific region, how they feel about the opportunities they want to pursue, as well as the barriers that may stand in their way.” He said the region’s growing labor force is “a key asset that, if harnessed effectively, is going to continue to drive the economies.”
Compared to feedbacks in the entire Aspac region, respondents in the Philippines were more positive on opportunity when it came to aspects linked to education, career, work and other life-related matters.
Starting their own business is a top opportunity for them, with over half or 53 percent agreeing to this. They are similar to Indonesians (50 percent), who are interested in entrepreneurial pursuits.
On the contrary, respondents in Australia (13 percent), Hong Kong (13 percent) and Japan (7 percent) are least likely to embark on new ventures. Overall, only a quarter or 25 percent of Aspac survey participants were likely to embark on new ventures.
Akin to their neighbors, many Filipinos (44 percent) hope to achieve or maintain an opportunity to get a job that offers good work-life balance.” This is slightly above the average of 40 percent in the region.