Greener pastures abroad slowly drying up

I came across an interesting but rather disturbing article in last week’s newspaper. It said that about 18 percent of our college graduates are unemployed, according to the National Statistics office. That was disturbing news. And then, in another article was the exact opposite information: that more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are returning home to work here because there are more opportunities in the Philippines than there are abroad. Would you believe that story about the ‘reverse migration’ quoting Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz’s statement? She said that more of our OFWs are coming home because of better opportunities here. It’s obviously a PR job and I, for one, don’t bite. I’ll deal with that later.

As for the first part, I can believe the NSO statistics, because the bottom-line here is that our educational system may not be competitive with the standards of more developed countries and may not always provide what is immediately needed in the market. My own personal experience can attest to this. I found it harder to study more advanced subjects compared to students that studied in other countries, particularly those who studied in United Kingdom educational institutions. Sadly, the Philippines lags behind other countries in this aspect. With the government’s program of adding another two years to the education of our youth, we hope to better compete with the rest of the world and hopefully this will help our graduates get better jobs. This way we will be better equipped to entice more of our professionals to stay at home and contribute to the country’s progress.

The sad part is that the fact that the unemployed citizens are college graduates just goes to show that there is a slight mismatch between what is being offered in our school system and what is required in the job market. Having an education is no longer a guarantee for finding a good job. Some employers are looking for specific skills that may not be found in our current crop of graduates.

The article further mentioned that the problem of mismatched skills needs to be addressed and our students need to be more properly prepared to face situations in the real world and in the real employment arena. This is truly important and the government needs to coordinate closer with the academe and the private business community to find out what skills need to be included in the educational program to better equip Filipino graduates with what they need in the real world.

This will no doubt better help our students when it comes to finding work in the real world. But at the same time the government can’t be the only entity working to address the unemployment situation. Private higher education institutions should also reach out to the private business community to create tie-ups and opportunities as well.

This brings me to the second part of the information I saw in the news, which is intrinsically tied to the first item. I find Filipino migrants’ group Migrante, whose vice chairman, John Leonard Monterona, who said that 4,500 Filipinos are leaving our country to work abroad daily – an indication that the employment situation in the country has not improved. I actually believe this considering how many college graduates we have without work opportunities.

According to Baldoz, reverse migration is happening because there are opportunities here that are not available abroad. I don’t think this is exactly the case. Though it is true that a lot of OFWs are trying to make their way home, I don’t think it’s because there are better opportunities for them here but because they are suffering abuses and lessening of opportunities in their work abroad.

This is especially true for the workers in the Middle East who are longing to come home. I don’t think they are under the impression that they are coming home to better employment opportunities here. They just know that the job situations in different places abroad are slowly getting smaller. Labor laws in several OFW locations are now giving priority to local workers over migrant ones. This means opportunities abroad are shrinking leaving a lot of our OFWs with no other option but to return home for the moment until something comes up.

I know there is far more to the story than any one side has to say. Of couse they are all trying to put the positive side forward. I understand what Baldoz was saying about opportunities opening up with Entertainment City in the works but I think she and all of us as well, need to be more pragmatic when it comes to the progress. Definitely I see how opportunities would open up with the new establishments opening their doors in Entertainment City but this is going to be a slow growth and jobs will still be divided between local and foreign workers.

Hopefully, as Entertainment City progresses more better high paying opportunities open up for Filipinos and give them better reasons to stay here. After all, every time I travel abroad I see so many good Filipinos in good positions in Hotel and Restaurant Management positions in so many other countries. They are so hardworking, helpful, and good at what they do. It would be amazing if they could do the same jobs here for the same salaries closer to their families and closer to home. I have no doubt in my mind that Filipinos would rather work here in the Philippines and be near their families rather than leaving for 12 to  18 months minimum at a time. As we look forward to the future hopefully we can work on the things that can make this happen: bettering our education and increasing quality job opportunities in the country.