300,000 jobs available nationwide

MANILA, Philippines - Almost 300,000 overseas and local jobs are available nationwide.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the government’s official job and skills matching and job search facility has recorded an all-time high of 268,278 vacancies.

“This is the first time that the Phil-JobNet registered an all-time high of 268,278 job vacancies posted at the Phil-JobNet website as of Jan. 15, proof positive that our labor market information dissemination strategies are working,” she said.

“This is also the first time that job vacancies uploaded by different companies, both local and overseas, exceeded the number of registered applicants by over 100,000.”

Baldoz said the number of registered worker-applicants as of Jan. 15 has reached 116,795.

The increase in the vacancy postings is expected to accommodate an influx of graduating students looking for jobs, she added.

The number of job vacancies posted in the Phil-JobNet averaged only between 20,000 to 40,000 at the start of the Aquino administration two years ago.

The Department of Labor and Employment launched the Phil-JobNet in May 1998 as part of the government’s strategy to popularize an information technology-based employment service.

In mid-2010, only about 3,000 establishments were accredited with the PJN, registering an average of 35,000 job vacancies.

The deployment of Job Search kiosks and the DOLE’s relentless advocacy for its use by the Public Employment Service Offices, other employment intermediaries, and industries have increased the number to 7,000 establishments with an average of 100,000 posted job vacancies.

Baldoz said this year the DOLE is providing jobseekers with a more user-friendly web-based job matching facility and labor market information portal.

“This will enable employers to join job fairs through advanced online registration, invite applicants for interview and, at the same time, allow applicants to respond or to request to reset interview schedules,” she said. “With this system in place, an applicant can also pre-register for a scheduled job fair.”