50,000 jobs up for grabs, govt reports

Around 50,000 job vacancies are in a government Web site despite the persistently high unemployment rate, President Benigno Aquino III said Monday.

“According to the Philjobnet Web site, every month there are 50,000 jobs that are not filled because the knowledge and skills of job seekers do not match the needs of the companies,” Mr. Aquino told Congress.

“We will not allow this opportunity to go to waste.”

Mr. Aquino said he had ordered the Labor and Education Departments, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to address the issue.

“Curricula will be reviewed and analyzed to better direct them to industries that are in need of workers, and students will be guided so that they may choose courses that will arm them with the skills apt for vacant jobs,” the President said.

He said his year-old administration had added 1.4 million jobs created as of April, thereby reducing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent from 8 percent last year.

Socio-economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga said April’s net employment was boosted by the agriculture sector that contributed 645,000 workers.

The quality of employment had also improved, he said.

“This can be seen in the 5-percent increase in workers with wages and salaries, the 3.5-percent rise of full-time workers, and the decrease of unemployed youth from 18.8 percent last year to 16.6 percent in April.” Joyce Pangco Pañares