By Mia Rosiena Mallari | Researcher
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) launched the new platform of Phil-JobNet in a joint initiative with the SFI Group of Companies, with the goal of improving the job-matching process in the Philippines.
The updated system targets to address the job-skill mismatch in the country by coordinating specific skills set. With an extensive talent map tool, the new system is seen to lessen the underemployment rate.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in her speech that this will also back up registered employers in posting up-to-date vacancies and lessen the load of the tedious employment process through an easier means of connecting with applicants. Users are able to upload and constantly update their professional profiles online for viewing of employers. An offline capacity was also generated, given the limited Internet connectivity in some rural communities in the country.
“Offline facilities will have the same functionality as the online system except, once the data is encoded, it will be migrated to the system to be viewed by the employers also. Anywhere, anytime,” said DOLE- Bureau of Local Employment Director Dominique Rubia-Tutay.
The job-search database will also provide a wider scope of vacancies that will accommodate minorities in the labor force, such as high-school graduates, persons with disablities and senior citizens. Part-time jobs and internships will also be posted for students who are looking at spending their free time wisely.
At the same time, Baldoz encouraged newly graduates to “aspire for a government job.”
Baldoz said 173,366 positions are available in the national bureaucracy, a good one-seventh of the 1,205,605 authorized the government positions.
Other than that, Baldoz announced that there were 130,000 vacancies made available at the DOLE job fair on March 10. These range from blue-collar to white-collar jobs available in select countries all over the globe.
Reports from the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices show that, despite the looming oil crisis in the Middle East, the number of verified job orders and processed contracts are still climbing, with construction being the main demand at 55 percent, sales 21 percent, and oil and gas 20 percent. The data also showed that 77 percent of the manpower demand is for the semi-skilled, while 18 percent are for highly skilled workers. Coinciding with the Phil-JobNet’s launch is the ceremonial signing of memorandum of understanding between the DOLE and groups from the private sector for the Assist WELL Program, the government initiative to accommodate displaced Filipino workers returning from overseas.
“[This will] showcase job vacancies in the country and overseas that can be an alternative to those who may be affected by the Middle East crisis so that they will not have second thoughts of coming over simply because they do not know what awaits them here in terms of employment, assistance and also in terms of financial assistance coming from the government,” Baldoz said.
SFI Group of Companies President and CEO Luis Anastacio said that, at the moment, the site is ranked 662 in the most-visited sites in the Philippines. Anastacio aims to be in the top 100 in two year’s time.
Phil-JobNet contributed 16 percent to the entry-level jobs applied for according to the 2011 Philippine Statistics Authority. The site was launched under the administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos initially to promote global competitiveness.