PH employment up, gov’t vows to create more quality jobs

By Anna Leah Gonzales, Philippine News Agency

FILE: JOB HUNTERS. Job applicants queue up in the hope of landing viable employment opportunities from 34 participating companies and government agencies that collaborated with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Jobs Sector Group to join the job fair held at a mall in Marikina on Labor Day on Wednesday (May 1, 2024). (PNA photo by Ben Briones)

MANILA – The number of employed Filipinos increased in April this year and the government remains committed to implementing reforms that will create more high-quality jobs.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday that the number of employed Filipinos went up to 48.67 million in April this year from 48.35 million in the same month in 2024.

In a briefing, National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the employment rate during the month was at 95.9 percent.

Industries with the largest increase in employment include administrative and support service activities, public administration and defense, agriculture and forestry, construction, and education.

The underemployment rate settled at 14.6 percent translating to 7.09 million employed individuals who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work in April 2025.

The unemployment rate meanwhile was at 4.1 percent, slightly higher than the 4 percent recorded in April last year.

The number of unemployed Filipinos was recorded at 2.06 million.

“Despite the slight uptick in unemployment, the Philippine labor market continues to demonstrate resilience amid global headwinds,” Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) officer in charge and Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon said in a statement.

“We remain on track to meet our target unemployment range of 4.4 to 4.7 percent set under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,” she added.

Edillon said the rollout of the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) Plan and the entry of new investments would help further improve the country’s labor force in the coming months.

Government initiatives to improve the employability of jobseekers and workers, include the enhancement of the Technical, Vocational and Livelihood track in the Senior High School, Government Internship Program for the new graduates, and the skills training programs being provided using various modalities.

“Leveraging the role of the private sector in training and skills development allows the workforce to benefit from industry expertise. Under the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework, the government, in partnership with the private sector, will co-develop programs that focus on digital, technical, and soft skills. This will allow learners to develop the foundational skills required for emerging industries,” Edillon said.

To ensure that the workers remain agile, Edillon said the development and promotion of a national policy for lifelong learning must be prioritized.

The effective implementation of the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program will also support lifelong learning by recognizing prior learning and work experience as industry-accepted qualifications.

Edillon said the government would continue promoting measures that improve the productivity of domestic industries, particularly those that generate higher-quality jobs to enhance the resilience of the labor market amid external uncertainties.

“Attracting more investments to generate higher-quality and better-paying jobs, particularly in manufacturing and higher-value-added services, and expanding into new markets is essential to broadening our economy and opening up more job opportunities for Filipino workers,” she said.

The newly created Semiconductor and Electronics Industry Advisory Council will assist local firms in expanding their product mix and upgrading technological capacity to meet new product demands.

The government will also pursue programs that equip workers with the necessary skills and ensure that crucial infrastructures are in place.