PRESIDENT Duterte’s rant versus the United States, European Union (EU) and the United Nations may have, indeed, affected investors’ confidence on the Philippines, if the latest data on e-recruitment activity in the country are to be used as basis.
According to the latest report released by Monster.com, the country’s Monster Employment Index (MEI) in September posted a 2-percent contraction, with the new foreign policies blamed as among the factors that made employers shelve their online hiring.
Data showed the country’s MEI declined to 96 in September 2016, from 98 in September 2015. In August the index value was also at 98.
The MEI is a monthly gauge of online job-posting activity in the Philippines, recording the industries and occupations that show the highest and lowest growth in recruitment activity.
“The introduction of new foreign policies and the peso plunge in the Philippines appears to have shaken investor’s confidence, slightly affecting the economy. Employers are likely waiting to see if the situation will improve before making hiring decisions,” Monster.com— Asia Pacific and Middle East Managing Director Sanjay Modi said.
Duterte has been dishing out negative statements against the US, EU and even the UN—mainly due to the international community’s reaction to the administration’s anti-drugs campaign—that gave a semblance of major shifts in foreign policy. The industries with the highest contraction in online hiring is the IT and telecom industry, with a 13-percent decline.
This was followed by engineering, construction and real-estate, with a contraction of 8 percent and production/manufacturing, automotive and ancillary, with a decline of 7 percent.
In terms of occupation, the highest contractions were recorded in engineering/production, real estate, as well as marketing and communications, with a decline of 9 percent each.
Human resource and administration jobs online also suffered a contraction of 7 percent. “However, analysts remain confident about the country’s economic growth in the months ahead, so it is not likely the numbers will fall too far behind its earlier performance,” Modi said.
Meanwhile, in terms of top growth industries, education posted the highest growth at 14 percent. This was followed by logistic, courier/freight/transportation, Import/export, shipping at 12 percent and business-process outsourcing /information technology enabled services, 10 percent.
MEI data also showed that top growth occupations in online hiring were led by customer service with a growth of 10 percent followed by purchase/ logistics/ supply chain at 8 percent and sales and business development, 3 percent.
“According to the Department of Education, the hiring of educators is expected to grow as the country proceeds with the implementation of the K to 12 Transition Program in schools. The tourism sector is also expected to grow to keep up with incoming business opportunities, as China and the Philippines continue to foster healthy relations,” Modi said.
The MEI is based on a real-time review of millions of employers on job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online-job listings across the Philippines.
The index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate
measure of the change in job listings across industries.