Gov’t agencies form task force to boost employment recovery

MANILA – Different government agencies headed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, (TESDA), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Friday signed a circular that would create jobs and improve the employability of workers.

The heads and representatives of the various offices of the government inked the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) constituting the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) Task Force in a virtual ceremony.

“Let me convey my appreciation to all the agencies that contributed to our endeavor to generate more employment opportunities and to improve the employability of our workers through the NERS,” said DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III in his opening statement.

NERS is a medium-term plan geared towards creating employment opportunities and improving the employability of Filipinos while taking into consideration the changes in the labor market brought by the pandemic and the fast adoption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

“This JMC will fortify our collective undertaking as a Task Force working to develop a policy environment that encourages the generation of more employment opportunities, improves employability and productivity of workers, and supports existing and emerging businesses,” the DOLE chief said.

“This is in alignment with the overall economic recovery strategy espoused in the updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and the ReCharge PH,” he added.

At the same time, Bello said they will continue to coordinate with stakeholders as they will both look forward to a better future.

“We, at the Department of Labor and Employment, are looking forward to our stronger engagement with our stakeholders from the private sector, labor and employer groups so that as one, we heal, recover, and enjoy the fruits of a recharged and reinvigorated labor market,” he added.

Bello also reported that last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority released the full Gross Domestic Product output for 2020 showing a -9.5 percent contraction of the economy.

He said the situation of the labor market is not far from this picture as we registered record-highs and lows in our key employment indicators last year.

“Based on the Annual Estimates of the Labor Force Survey, the employment rate is at 89.8 percent, while the unemployment rate is at 10.2 percent – the lowest and highest, respectively, since 2005,” Bello added.

“This underscores the importance of coordinated efforts to bring our economy back on its feet, to recover our losses in the labor market, and preserve existing jobs, businesses, and livelihood amidst the lingering pandemic,” he said.

Other signatories of the JMC are the Department of Transportation, Department of Tourism, Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Budget and Management. Department of Social Welfare and Development.