Marcos pushes microcredentials for workers to upskill, adapt

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has pushed for a stronger collaboration between the government and the private sector in providing skills development and learning recovery programs to Filipinos that will arm them with microcredentials to secure jobs.

During his meeting with members of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) at Malacañang last Friday, the President underscored the importance of microcredentials as a vital component for Filipino workers to remain competitive in the workforce.

“The microcredentials, it’s not a four-year course, it’s not a degree but you can present this to qualify for a job,” Marcos said.
Microcredentials are short skills-focused qualifications that seek to support learners to skill up in a wide array of knowledge areas.

“It’s really skills training. We have to upskill everybody. We need to have a system that will work with everyone,” the Chief Executive pointed out.

The President raised the need to retrain and reskill overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who wish to come back to the country for good.

He cited the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry as an example, in which workers have ramped up efforts to upskill for offshore medical jobs.

Marcos said 16 innovation centers are with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for the need to support Filipino workers in upskilling to stay competitive.

The President also committed to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) flourish by streamlining existing processes and making it easier for them to thrive.

Meanwhile, the PSAC, led by Aboitiz Group chief executive officer Sabin Aboitiz, stressed the need to provide businesses with access to money, markets and mentoring and enable them to undertake digital transformation.

Others present at the meeting were Vice President Sara Duterte, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, JG Summit CEO Lance Gokongwei and representatives from McKinsey & Company.

Marcos had signed Executive Order 5, transferring TESDA from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) “to rationalize the functional structures of agencies with complementary mandates and promote coordination, efficiency and organizational coherence in the bureaucracy.”

In a speech in New York last September, the President described the Philippine workforce as the “best asset” to bolstering economic transformation and growth.

“It is something that we have seen succeed, first of all with our OFWs, but also in the development of the more sophisticated businesses that have come to the country,” he said in an interview at the New York Stock Exchange.

In a bid to accelerate economic transformation, Marcos said his administration is bent on enhancing the country’s education system while at the same time improving the workforce’s technical abilities.

“We will still continue to try and improve the education system in terms of the technical side – the technical side of our workforce’s training. And as we know, that is becoming more and more important in the world,” he said.