IT IS graduation season and we can expect thousands of graduates adding to the current labor force of our country.
However, as they step into a new environment, they will be coming face to face with stiff competition and challenges.
While there are available work, not every one will be able to land to one. Companies will be comparing one graduate from another. While your school may take you to the interview stage, it is no gaurantee that your school will make you land a job immediately. It is your character, skills, knowledge, and how well you impress your prospect employers during the interview that will land you a job.
One of the challenges the graduates will have to face is the lack of quality jobs in the country.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that as of January 2019, employment rate in the country is estimated to be at 94.8 percent, which is slightly higher than the 94.7 percent in the same period in 2018.
However, underemployment rate is still quite high at an estimated 15.6 percent compared to 18 percent in January 2018. PSA defines underemployment as "employed persons who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or in an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours." The term has also been used to describe the problem with many graduates not landing in jobs they are supposed to get.
Fresh graduates will also have to face the reality that not every company they will be working with will give them a good salary and good benefits.
Graduates entering the work force should not expect a P15,000 to P20,000 salary the moment they start working. Not many companies will pay you that high if you still lack the skills they demand from you.
These are just some of the issues that every graduate will have to face the moment they enter the work force. These are the realities of today's workplace in the country. You are considered lucky if you land in a good company that pays well, has good benefits, and will nurture you.
Entering the workforce is tough. You will have to strengthen yourself and face the challenges head on. While some graduates called for mama and papa to help pull their grades during school, it is now a different world you are about to enter.