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15 million ‘ quality jobs’ needed over next 5 years


Some 15 million "quality jobs" have to be created over the next five years if the Philippines is to catch up with its more developed neighbors, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said. Lowering the unemployment rate to the healthier East Asian average requires the creation of 13.6-15.2 million such jobs, a study commissioned by the council found. "The country needs to generate at least three to four million quality jobs per year, or 15 million quality jobs in the next five years, to be able to bridge the employment gap in the Philippines, and to soon become a newly industrialized country," it said in a statement. Such jobs must be secure, deliver a fair income, and provide personal development and social protection to families, said the study by Ateneo de Manila University economists that was made available to BusinessWorld. The annual target is more than double the 1.3 million committed for 2009 by the government, business groups and the academe after a multisectoral forum in February last year. That list included overseas positions and temporary jobs under the government’s emergency employment program. The council’s target, on the other hand, will cover the backlog of jobs needed to lower the jobless rate to the East Asian average of 2-6 percent from the 6.8 percent recorded in 2008, eliminate underemployment, and turn the prospect of working abroad into a choice instead of a necessity The target assumes 2 percent growth in the labor force. "[In] the past few years, the government has been counting jobs that are just temporary to cover increasing unemployment and underemployment," Fernando T. Aldaba, who co-authored the study with Reuel R. Hermoso, said in a telephone interview on Monday. "I think there should be more commitment to creating quality jobs rather than just creating jobs," he said. To achieve the target, the study — completed in December and presented to the NCC last month — stressed the need to address constraints to economic growth. These include a tight fiscal space, inadequate infrastructure and weak investor confidence. It also pushed for a "sound industrial policy for job creation" with a focus on the manufacturing sector, where relatively stable and higher quality jobs are usually found, and sunrise industries. Such a strategy must be attached to major road maps such as the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan and local development blueprints. Local government units and three national government entities — the Education department, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority — should also be strengthened and coordination among them boosted. A mechanism must then be created to monitor the strategy’s implementation, preferably one that involves the private sector. NCC co-chairman and private sector representative Cesar B. Bautista said the next administration should consider the recommendations. "As we chart the way forward for improving competitiveness and governance even after the May 2010 elections, we have to prepare plans for continuing the projects that have gained champions from the various business groups in both competitiveness and governance," Bautista said in the statement.

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