AS I write this on a Tuesday afternoon, it’s been 113 days, 2,728 hours, 163,712 minutes and 9,822,720 seconds since the government implemented enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon on March 16 to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
But with 47,873 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country and the possibility of reaching 100,000 cases by end of August, it seems that the only thing that’s going down are our chances of ever going back to our normal lives anytime soon.
More than a health pandemic, Covid-19 has also become a global pandemic of unemployment. A crisis within a crisis. The only thing that’s scarier than actually getting sick of the virus is not having a job to go back to.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment, around 10 million workers are in danger of losing their jobs this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was earlier reported that 2.6 million workers have already lost their jobs due to the temporary and permanent closure of businesses, while 321,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have also been affected by the crisis.
Most of these job losses are in the service and tourism sector including allied businesses like restaurants as well as in the transportation sector.
It’s a good thing that Pinoys have once again found ways to earn extra income through online selling, but not everyone can make “Geliciously Made” ubebelove cheese pandesal, Samgyup meals like Adambol’s Kitchen, or those wildly popular baked sushi.
So for those facing job uncertainty, considering a new career path may be your best option.
Recently, Microsoft and LinkedIn announced a new global skills initiative with the goal of bringing more digital skills to 25 million people worldwide by the end of the year.
FINDING A NEW LEARNING PATH
TOWARD this end, LinkedIn is launching 10 Learning paths available for free. These paths are aligned to 10 jobs that were identified as having the greatest number of job openings, have had steady growth over the past four years, pay a livable wage, and require skills that can be learned online.
These 10 role-based learning paths include software developer, sales representative, project manager, IT administrator, customer service specialist, digital marketer, IT support/help desk, data analyst, financial analyst and graphic designer.
These learning paths can be useful in the top hiring industries in the Philippines, which, as of April and May 2020, are led by Hardware and Networking, Construction, Consumer Goods and Finance.
LinkedIn has also seen a strong acceleration in the need for soft skills and is making 4 learning paths—focused on helping professionals come up to speed on these skills—available for free.
For the job seeker, there’s “Finding a Job DuringChallenging Economic Times.” “Digital Transformation in Practice: Virtual Collaboration Tools” (combination of digital fluency and remote work), “Allyship and Inclusive Conversations—Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging for All.”
To get started, all you have to do is visit www.opportunity.linkedin.com to see current job opportunities and the different learning paths available.
BECOME AN ONLINE ENGLISH TEACHER
ANOTHER career option worth considering is becoming an online English teacher.
In recent years, online English teaching has become a very popular career choice, and has turned out to be one of the least affected jobs amid the pandemic. Home-based online types of jobs and livelihood have gained massive popularity as it is considered the safest way to continue earning amid the Covid-19 pandemic. As most online teachers in the Philippines typically work from home, this insulated them from the quarantine measures that have devastated other businesses.
Being an online English teacher can be very rewarding. In 2019, the average monthly salary in the Philippines was P50,600 and online English teachers may earn more than this amount per month, depending on their number of classes.
Founded in 2011, the NYSE-listed 51Talk is the leading online English education platform that connects more than 20,000 online Filipino teachers to millions of foreign students through live and interactive lessons.
51Talk, even throughout the pandemic, has been hard at work in empowering Filipinos across the Philippines by spreading awareness about the advantages of being a home-based online English teacher through digital conferences and webinars, and social-media campaigns.
To further reach out to more Filipinos in search of more lucrative opportunities, 51talk has signed up Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach to be its brand ambassador. During a live Facebook stream with Tim Yap, Pia said empowering Filipinos has been her top advocacy ,and she wanted to use her voice and influence to spread awareness about earning opportunities by becoming an online English teacher with 51Talk, especially nowadays when thousands have already lost their jobs and livelihood.
“It’s hard to imagine how some of our kababayans are going through right now because of the massive layoffs and closure of businesses due to Covid-19. We really have to rethink how we as a society conducts businesses while remaining safe and ensuring the health and well-being of everyone,” Pia said.
Pia urged Filipinos to consider online English teaching as a viable and sustainable source of income. “If you think you are ready to embark on your new online career, then maybe this is the chance you’ve been waiting for. Who knows, perhaps 51Talk is your future at home.”
Besides being the brand ambassador, Pia will also be helping 51Talk in conducting interviews of potential candidates. These interview sessions will be streamed live in Facebook to encourage netizens to sign-up, and to give a glimpse on how the process of becoming an online teacher usually takes place.
51talk has been expanding their teacher base in the Philippines, opening up 30,000 home-based online English positions to meet the ever-increasing demand for ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers primarily from China.
The Chinese market for foreign English teachers has grown massively over the past decade, and it shows no sign of slowing down. In China, all children from age seven are required by law to learn English and most parents enroll their children earlier than this, even as young as two years old because they want their children to gain an advantage in a highly competitive environment. This means there is a very bright future for the online ESL industry in the Philippines to meet this increasing demand from China.
In a video message posted on social media, 51Talk Founder and CEO Jack Huang encouraged Filipinos whose regular work was affected by the pandemic to join 51Talk. “If the pandemic affected your job, then 51Talk can offer you a new option. There has probably never been a better time than right now to teach English online.”
“Everyone has seen, especially in the past three months, that earning a livelihood from home is not just possible but also sustainable and profitable. Business processes like meetings and interviews can all be carried out virtually with the aid of technology. We have been doing this for 9 years now and as you can see, our teachers are able to earn and be safe as they continue to teach from home with 51Talk.” Huang added.
The 51Talk CEO believes that Filipinos are the best online English teachers because of their high English proficiency, passion and friendly nature, and familiarity with the Chinese culture.
Zeeryl Vivi, a licensed professional teacher from Bacolod City, has been teaching with 51Talk for two years now. Zeeryl said that her earnings have increased during the pandemic because her students are mostly staying at home. “I continued to earn from home despite the quarantine restrictions. I actually realized that I was earning more than usual and I was able to provide for my family’s needs. This home-based opportunity really helped us a lot.”
Teacher Xandra Hill found her career as a professional pilot in limbo as travel restrictions brought the travel industry at a standstill. “As a pilot, the world literally stopped for me because of the suspension of work, which was my main source of income. I had to look for alternative means to earn and sustain my family’s daily necessities. That’s how I found 51Talk,” said Xandra.
To know more about 51Talk, visit www.51talkph.com.