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Friday, March 31, 2006
Roperos: Jobseekers among us
By Godofredo M. Roperos
Politics Also
A business story I read recently said that a survey on the labor condition of the country showed an increase in the employment rate, a matter that should be cause for rejoicing. If true, it would indicate a positive upturn of the nation’s economy.
But a closer look at the survey results, according to economic analysts, would show that while there is gain in the number of new employed wage earners, there is marked decline in the number of professionals/skilled workers working. This means that a great number of the trained or professional workers may have sought employment abroad.
In a sense, our commercial and industrial sectors are the losers in that they are left with less qualified labor. We pointed this out in an earlier piece in this space about the steady desertion of skilled workers from our manufacturing sector.
“The situation…constitutes a challenge to the local manufacturing sector if it has to retain the services of their trained workers. What seems to be happening, as with out nurses, is that the local firms train the ‘raw workers’ to become polished artisans in a particular line of work, but (when) they gain experience, they seek employment abroad for higher pay,” I wrote then.
Right now, there’s a reported steady rise in unemployment rate in the Central Visayas region. A report in this daily the other day said that the “latest National Census and Statistics Office labor force survey done in October 2005 showed that while the employment level is now at 2.419 million, the number of unemployed persons also rose by 6.6 percent to 321,000 from the 301,000 the year before.”
With fresh college and high school graduates added to the ranks of jobseekers in the coming weeks, the rate of unemployment is expected to rise higher than what it is now. In the region alone, some 25 thousand more or less are set to graduate.
The rank of the fresh graduates, of course, do not include the secondary level ones, many of whom would be seeking work. It is said that of the high school graduates this season, less than half would not be proceeding to the collegiate level for financial reasons.
Many may seek skills training in order to get employment abroad. And some may choose to stay and seek their fortunes in the home grounds. Whatever they may choose to do, the fact would remain that they are added burden to our already overburdened labor sector.
Of course, as our economy improves—and it is devoutly wished that it would—over the coming months, there would be new jobs created that those who remain behind to stake it out in the home front may be able to get.
But the naked reality, though, is that home front employment has actually just become the fertile training ground for our raw, unpolished labor force. Once they have acquired the skills that would enable them to gain better paying employment abroad, they would leave without any hesitation.
This is, however, really no pain on the back of the government. It means more dollar remittances to the country, a stable dollar reserves, and a relief to our country’s foreign indebtedness that has been sapping our fiscal energy for more than a generation now.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 31, 2006 issue)
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