CEBU, Philippines - Despite efforts to bridge the gap between industry and manpower supply, the Central Visayas region is still facing problem on skill mismatch.
A report from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) showed that for the past six years Central Visayas has not adequately addressed the problem of industry and academe synergy in terms of providing the right people for the industry players.
According to the report, structural unemployment of skills mismatch still persists in the region. Employment facilitation programs of the government such as the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) job fairs and the regular employment facilitation program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have indicated modest accomplishments in terms of placement and percent of job vacancy filled.
The report further indicated that even graduates of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) had very low absorption level.
In 2008, only about 21.6 percent of the graduates of the entire TVET sector became employed after graduation.
The percentage of TVET graduates who became employed after graduation dropped to 19.9 percent in 2009 and to 12.3 percent in 2010.
Absorption level of the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) scholars was also low.
In 2009, for instance only 71 percent of the TWSP graduates were absorbed by the industries after graduation.
To be able to attract investments that could provide full, decent and productive employment, the report suggested that the region must ensure supply of manpower resources with skills attuned to industry requirements is adequate.
Sufficiency of supply of qualified workers is another major consideration of investors in the selection of investment site.
As of July of last year, employment rate in Central Visayas registered a 92.2 percent growth, a slight improvement from the 92.5 percent it achieved in January of 2012.
The employment rate in July 2012 however, was lower than the 93.7 percent employment rate recorded in the same month of last year. Because of this, NEDA said that there is a need for the region to work harder in generating employment in the succeeding quarters in order to achieve the plan target of an employment rate in 2012 to reach at least 93.5 percent.
Compared to the national averages, the employment rate of the region in January 2012, April 2012 and July 2012 were slightly lower.
In the January, April and July 2012 surveys of the labor force, the average employment rates of the country were 92.8 percent, 93.1 percent, and 93.0 percent, respectively. The region posted employment rates during the said months of 92.5 percent, 92.8 percent, and 92.9 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, underemployment in the region remains a challenge. Although, the proportion of underemployed workers to the total number of employed workers in the region decreased in July 2012 to hover at 21.4 percent from 22.4 percent in April of this year.
“Its (underemployment) high at more than 20 percent, higher than the January 2012 rate of 20.5 percent,†NEDA reported.
Last year’s July underemployment rate of 18.8 percent was in fact better than the July 2012 rate.
Compared to the national underemployment rate, Central Visayas’ rate has been on an upward trend since July 2010. (FREEMAN)