Wanted: Higher-paying jobs for 15-30 age bracket

FILE: Employment-seekers try their luck at the Manila Public Employment Service Office’s job fair in Tondo on Aug. 4, 2022. (PNA photo by Ben Briones)

MANILA – Senator Sonny Angara on Sunday suggested that the government come up with higher quality and higher paying jobs for those aged 15 to 30, saying the age bracket has the lowest pay in the country.

Citing records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Angara said there are 13.8 million employed in the 15-30 age group.

The top industries where they are employed are wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; agriculture and forestry; construction; manufacturing; and administrative and support service activities.

The PSA estimates at least 2.02 million of them were underemployed in 2021, or those employed but are still looking for additional work hours or other jobs that can provide them with additional work hours.

“It’s clear to me that the quality of jobs that we produce is what we should be looking after. We should be asking ourselves and our government agencies should be asking themselves what we can do to help enable the private sector to produce higher paying, higher quality jobs,” Angara said in a statement on Sunday.

He said the government cannot be content with just pushing for the creation of the same low paying jobs in the same industries if it were to make a serious dent in the unemployment and underemployment rate.

Young people who lose their jobs or fail to obtain jobs are particularly vulnerable to “scarring” or the phenomenon where their future labor market outcomes are worse than those of their peers even when the economic conditions where they are situated improve as reported by the International Labor Organization, according to Angara

“What we need to do is to have the government agencies involved in job creation to help the private sector, particularly the industries and entrepreneurs, to create higher paying jobs for Filipinos,” Angara said. “We can redirect public investments towards digital, care and green economies that will not only produce a significant amount of new jobs but also provide a boost to the country’s gross domestic product over time.” (With a report from Leonel Abasola/PNA)