Customer service assistants, nurses top list of 20 job opportunities

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has disseminated the top 20 job vacancy categories available to job searchers nationwide as registered by employers and overseas employment providers in the Phil-Jobnet, based on the country’s labor market information (LMI) system.

The DOLE’s Bureau of Local Employment (BLE), in a recent report to Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, said there are 20,374 vacancies available in the Phil-Jobnet, 65 percent of which (13,323) are in Metro Manila and other regions, with the remaining 35 percent (7,051) overseas.

BLE director Maria Luisa Gigette Imperial, in her report, said that of the top 20 job vacancy categories for local/overseas vacancies, the top five categories are for customer service assistant (2,887 jobs), professional nurse-general (2,519), production machine operator (1,060), salesman (731), and administrative assistant (707).

Imperial said customer service assistants are required by companies in Baguio City, Manila, Makati City, Muntinlupa City, Pasig City, Mandaluyong City, Manila and Legazpi City; professional nurses in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Israel and Manila; production machine operators in Laguna, Subic and the United Arab Emirates (UAE); salespersons in Baguio City, Bacolod, Bulacan, Cagayan de Oro City, Cavite, Cebu, Davao City, General Santos City, Iloilo City, La Union, Laguna, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Pasig City, Mandaluyong City and Manila; and administrative assistants in Manila, Baguio City, Makati City, and other areas of Metro Manila.

The rest of the top 20 local/overseas job opening categories are sales executive (635), technical support staff (308), cashier (275), merchandiser (274), waitress (233), waiter-general (230), accounting assistant (216), production worker (211), domestic helper (210), programmer and designer (202), sales representative (200), mechanical engineer (192), pastry chef (176), janitor (165) and building electrician (160).

Aside from the top 20 job vacancy categories, there are more than 400 other job categories posted by employers and overseas employment providers which are currently available to interested job seekers in the Phil-Jobnet system, Imperial said.

"This shows that employers are continually heeding our call to post opportunities in our labor market information system, and there are both local and overseas opportunities available to those with the pertinent qualifications and skills for the jobs," Sto. Tomas said.

The Labor chief said interested job applicants may access the available vacancies in the Phil-Jobnet system simply by texting <TRABAHO> to 2376 (Globe) or 2476 (Smart), or accessing the information directly in the Internet at www.phil-jobnet.dole.gov.ph

"If a job seeker wants to have information about a local job, he or she may simply text TRABAHO QUEZON CITY (or other local locations) to 2376 or 2476," she said.  "Should he/she opt for an overseas job vacancy, he/ she may simply text TRABAHO NURSE (or other desired job items) SAUDI ARABIA (or other host countries)." 

In response, the Phil-Jobnet system will text back its list of jobs for the particular local or overseas locations, and the desired job item. The system practically lessens inconveniences and costs of job search for the unemployed. "The vacancy and/or location lists are provided for free to help the job seeker optimize options, all at a cost of P2.50 per text," Sto. Tomas said.

A high school diploma, a minimum one-year working experience, and special skills in preparing food are all it takes for a cook to land the highest-paying service job in the hotel and restaurant industry, the DOLE disclosed.

A report reaching Sto. Tomas showed that cooks working full-time were paid the highest among selected service workers in the hotel and restaurant industry earning an average monthly salary of P9,406. 

The Occupational Wages Survey (OWS) conducted last year by the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) also showed that cooks need not have a college degree in order to obtain high-paying employment.

The BLES report indicated that hotels and restaurants in the country only required cooks to have at least finished high school and one year of work experience.

The 2004 OWS also showed that among the selected clerical and service occupations in hotels and restaurants, full-time receptionists and information clerks earned the second highest average monthly salary last year at P8,754, followed by accounting and bookkeeping clerks (P8,654); housekeepers and related workers (P8,472); and waiters, waitresses and bartenders ((P8,121). 

Meanwhile, hotel and restaurant service crew workers earned the lowest average monthly pay in 2004, at P6,096.

The BLES report also noted that hotels and restaurants required college degrees for accounting and bookkeeping clerks, receptionists, and information clerks in contrast to the high school minimum educational requirement for cooks.

"This indicates that industry puts a premium on skills," Sto. Tomas said as she urged students and young workers to determine the skills needed by their desired industry both locally and overseas and to receive training in these skills.

"The workers can easily land decent high-paying jobs if they are equipped with skills that industry needs," Sto. Tomas said.