THE Philippine labor force still lacks employees with Data Science and Analytics (DSA) skills, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
In a PIDS discussion paper, titled “Assessing the Alignment of Philippine Higher Education with the Emerging Demands for Data Science and Analytics Workforce,” a team of researchers found a “misalignment between demand and supply of DSA” skills in the country.
“[With this] comes the impetus for the government to work on appropriate mechanisms. If not, youth unemployment may exacerbate,” the paper stated.
The findings showed the country had an oversupply of data engineers and data scientists, but have an undersupply of functional analysts and data stewards.
Data engineers design, construct, test and maintain data infrastructure while data scientists use statistical techniques to create models needed to obtain new quantitative and qualitative data.
Functional analysts, meanwhile, use data and leverage insights to help institutions make better decisions.
Data stewards develop, enforce, and maintain an institution’s data governance process with the aim of ensuring that the data used is of high quality.
Data showed employers are looking mostly for functional analysts comprising 66 percent of the DSA demand, while higher education institutions are producing mostly graduating job-ready data engineers comprising 68 percent of the DSA supply.
“The study found evidence of misalignment between the type of DSA workers sought by employers and the type of DSA graduates educated by our higher education institutions,” the study stated.
“There is an oversupply of data engineers and data scientists, and an undersupply of functional analysts and data steward,” it added.
In order to address the situation, the research team recommended that the government, academe, and private companies to work together.
This can be done by setting standards for degree programs in data science and analytics or updating existing Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order (CMO) of degree programs.
Industry players, the researchers said, can encourage their own employees to teach and impart a practical background of DSA to students.
The private sector can also share the cost of DSA education, such as data laboratories, hardware, and software licenses.