Job quality is a concern, says NEDA's Paderanga

Despite the lower numbers of underemployed and unemployed Filipinos in July, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday said the quality of jobs in the Philippines is a concern. “While the Philippine economy has shown relative improvements in the labor sector in July 2010, the quality of employment remains a concern," NEDA Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga Jr. said in a statement. The government really needs to implement aggressive policies and programs aimed at improving the quality of employment that will ensure that more Filipinos will find quality jobs, Paderanga said. Once these policies are implemented, the country will be able to spur growth in the productive sectors of the economy and increase stable employment sources for the country’s labor force, he said. “The government should continue to pursue policies that will raise investments and improve productivity as well as income per capita in the country," Paderanga pointed out. “The government should strengthen the implementation of policies that address the existing skills-mismatch problem in the labor sector to reduce the portion of educated but unemployed sectors of the society," he added. During his appointment as the NEDA chief, Paderanga said the main thrust of the Aquino administration will be on employment generation and poverty reduction. He said the government to generate more jobs needs to address seven key issues: weak exports due to poor competitiveness, low capital investments, low consumer and business confidence, low investment in human capital, high unemployment rate, poor access to credit in the countryside, and the impacts of climate change. —Jesse Edep/VS, GMANews.TV