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DOLE chief to students: Take agriculture, fishery courses


If you want big job opportunities, take agriculture and fisheries courses. This was the advice of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to students, as she noted such courses are considered “undersubscribed." “My advice to students is to consider seriously taking up these courses if they want to get employed quickly ... In agriculture alone, there are job opportunities in the medium to long term in the growing agri-business sector, notably such occupations as agricultural economists, those in animal husbandry, aquaculturists, coconut farmers, entomologists, fruit, vegetable, and root crops farmers, fishermen, horticulturists, plant mechanics, rice thresher operator mechanics, veterinarians, and pathologists," Baldoz said in an article posted on the Labor Department website. She said students can also consult the labor market information (LMI) in her department’s “Project Jobs Fit." The project details a wide range of opportunities in the country’s key employment generators, including the “seven big winners" – namely: agriculture, business process outsourcing (BPO), creative industries, infrastructure, manufacturing & logistics, mining and tourism. Bureau of Local Employment Director Maria Criselda Sy said Project Jobs Fit also identifies “in-demand" sub-skills under these occupations. Such sub-skills include poultry raiser, livestock raiser/farmer, entrepreneur (animal production), independent farmer (owner/operator in a smaller operation), leading hand, agronomist, aquaculturist, aquaculture farm caretaker, aquaculture farm aide, aquaculture facilities repair and maintenance worker, fish nursery worker, shrimp and fish grow-out worker, prawn farm cultivator, horticultural farm aide, horticultural farm caretaker, coffee and cacao farmer. The Labor Department is working on disseminating labor market information on new and emerging industries and preferred skills that must be generated per region in the next 10 years. LMI can now be accessed online by workers and employers and the public at large. Also, the DOLE has distributed hard copies in print and in CD format of the Project JobsFit report to members of the Cabinet and Congress, and to relevant government agencies, employers and workers groups, and the network of guidance counselors of schools, colleges and universities. “We will review the JobsFit Report biennially to analyze labor market trends and to make the data correct for timely and accurate dissemination to the public," Baldoz said. — LBG, GMANews.TV

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