Tuesday, July 31, 2007

DOLE says 1M jobs a year, attainable

Cebu, Philippines (30 July)—The Department of Labor and Employment here in Cebu said, PGMA’s promise to create one million jobs every year until 2010 is attainable.

Elias Cayanong, DOLE-7 regional director said, to do this, government must maintain the decreasing unemployment rate in the country through job generation.

According to Cayanong, the unemployment rate in Central Visayas has been decreasing since the last quarter of 2006 to the 1st semester of 2007 by 7.3% from 7.8% in the late part of 2005 until early 2006.

He cited the lack of skills among graduates as the biggest factor why government could not erase unemployment in the country.

The decrease meant 40,000 jobs in region 7. “If the trend is replicated in other regions, there is a big possibility of achieving the 1M jobs every year,” Cayanong said optimistically.

Employment rate in Central Visayas on the other hand is between 2.4M to 2.6million and most of the job openings are related to tourism industries and call centers.

Cayanong added that at least there are 80,000 to 100,000 job openings for call centers every year in the region but these are not filled in because applicants do not have the needed command in the English language.

The government however has vowed to focus on modernizing the country’s education to become globally competitive. It has acknowledged the lack of English facility of the graduates and is now addressing the problem through extensive training programs on English, Math and Science education. (PIA-Cebu/MBCN)

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