AROUND four million Filipinos were unemployed in January 2021 compared to 2.4 million in January 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
This figure translates to an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent. In October 2020, the country recorded 3.8 million unemployed Filipinos.
Employment rate in January 2021, on the other hand, stood at 91.3 percent. This means that 41.2 million Filipinos were employed out of 45.2 million Filipinos in the labor force in January 2021. This estimated rate is lower than the reported 94.7 percent in January 2020.
By region, unemployment rates in seven areas of the country were reportedly higher than the national estimate of 8.7 percent in January 2021.
Two of these regions, Calabarzon and Bicol Region, reported double-digit unemployment rates of 13.1 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively.
By industry group, the services sector remained dominant with 57.2 percent share to the total employed persons, followed by the agriculture sector with 24.4 percent share, and the industry sector with 18.4 percent which accounted for the smallest share.
Sectors that bounced back
The top three sub-sectors that bounced back in terms of employment level from October 2020 to January 2021 were arts, entertainment and recreation under the services sector (25.7 percent), mining and quarrying under the industry sector (14.1 percent) and real estate activities (11.3 percent).
On the other hand, the fishing and aquaculture sub-sector registered the lowest drop in employment by -16.1 percent from October 2020 to January 2021.
In terms of year-on-year employment growth rates, two sub-sectors reported the biggest declines in employment, namely, electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply at -34.7 percent and arts, entertainment and recreation at -31.8 percent.
On the other hand, information and communication had the highest year-on-year employment growth rate (25 percent) followed by human health and social work activities (11.9 percent).
JobsFit report
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) emphasized the need for digital skills as the Covid-19 pandemic changed the labor market.
Among the findings of the JobsFit Covid-19 Labor Market Information (LMI) Report of Dole is that new skill sets among workers and jobseekers, particularly on digital and technical know-how, are needed to keep up with the labor market.
This is caused by the digital economy further gaining ground amid the pandemic.
“Facilitating access to the labor market through timely, relevant and accurate labor market information is part of the government’s action plan towards economic and social recovery,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said in a statement.
The document, which is a mid-term update of the JobsFit 2022 LMI Report, underscored enabling better matching of skills and employment opportunities as the pandemic reshapes the labor market.
Majority of the jobseekers highlighted the need for digital and technical skills, which may account for the shift in the labor demand and working arrangements.
Dominant skills
To keep up with the labor market, dominant skills needed by jobseekers include digital literacy; financial literacy; occupational safety and health skills; integrity, which entails physical, mental and reproductive health; and stress tolerance.
“As we are forced to shift to more digital transactions due to the pandemic, there will also be a corresponding shift of demand of labor skill sets towards adeptness in information technology (IT) technical and digital know-how. These skills will be very much in demand moving forward. The speed of the pivot will be appalling,” Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Steven Yu said.
Prior to the pandemic, the top skills highlighted by job seekers were soft skills, which included being a team player, social awareness, problem sensitivity, self-motivation, planning and organizing, decision-making, creative problem solving, innovation, English functional skill and comprehension and multi-tasking.
The report also showed that compared to 2019 when the majority of job seekers were fresh graduates or new entrants to the labor force, wage-employed workers accounted for the most number of jobseekers in 2020.
In terms of impact on employment, recovery from the drastic slump in the labor market was seen in the July 2020 round of the Labor Force Survey. However, underemployment is still relatively high in comparison to the pre-pandemic level.
This may be accounted for by the flexible work arrangements still being implemented by some companies. But with investments and the rise of new key employment generators, these factors will hopefully translate to more stable employment, assistant secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay said.
Vacancies
Among the industries that remained at the top, or those with the highest number of vacancies during the pandemic are business process outsourcing, information and communication technology, manufacturing, financial intermediation, sales, retail, and medical and healthcare.
New industries that emerged are in the government sector, general services and utility, and accounting.
In terms of occupations, call center agent, customer representative/service assistant, nurse, and sales clerk positions consistently remained at the top of the list.
Adding to the top occupations amid the pandemic are teachers, engineers, administrative assistants, system developers, software developers and programmers, web developers, supervisors, and real estate and property positions. (JOB with KOC)