YOUNG Filipinos need better quality jobs, a senator said at the weekend, as he noted that majority of the jobs held by those aged 15 to 30 are some of the lowest-paying.
“The quality of jobs that we produce is what we should be looking after,” Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara said in a statement. “We should be asking ourselves and our government agencies should be asking themselves what we can do to help enable the private sector to produce higher-paying, higher-quality jobs.”
The senator, who heads the Senate youth committee, said public investments should be channeled to digital and green industries that will produce a significant number of new jobs and boost the country’s economic output.
Youth employment rate was at 85.7% as of April, higher than the February 2021 rating of 81.5% and lower than the recorded employment rate in January at 86.2%.
About 838,000 of 6.2 million Filipino youths were underemployed, while 1.03 million were jobless.
Mr. Angara said the top local employment opportunities are wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, agriculture and forestry, construction, manufacturing and administrative and support service activities.
“Looking at the top industries, clearly these are not high-paying, high-quality jobs. This is a problem because it means they are not able to feed their families or that their income is not enough for their needs,” he said.
Young people are likely to accept jobs for which they are overqualified, putting them at risk of being employed informally and receiving low pay,” Mr. Angara said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan