INDUSTRY stakeholders on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, highlighted the need to strengthen Cebu’s talent ecosystem to sustain the growth of its manufacturing base.
They warned that the province risks losing skilled workers abroad if job quality and living standards fail to keep pace with global opportunities.
During a panel discussion on Cebu’s industrial growth, officials from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Aboitiz InfraCapital and the Cebu Provincial Government said the talent gap remains one of the biggest challenges facing the manufacturing sector despite its strong role in driving investments and job creation outside Metro Cebu.
Aboitiz InfraCapital’s Economic Estates head Rafael Fernandez de Mesa said attracting and retaining workers requires more than just job availability.
“Talent has many options,” he said. “To make them stay, we must balance job opportunities with lifestyle needs — affordable housing, access to schools and commercial districts.”
De Mesa said “there’s no issue in building the industrial parks and putting the infrastructure that’s needed by these companies to operate, but the gap is in talent.”
He cited the Aboitiz Group’s model of “industry-anchored townships” in Balamban and Lipa, where companies, schools and housing coexist to create self-sustaining communities.
De Mesa recalled that in the past they would ink memorandum of understanding with the different schools or universities in the areas where they operate to address the talent gap but now they’ve stepped up bringing the universities and the schools inside their townships.
“So in Balamban, Cebu we have the University of San Jose-Recoletos and in Lima, we’re bringing Batangas State University. This will allow us to basically pioneer industry based learning, and so those students will now have the opportunity to learn, what are those future needs of the industry? And the industry will have the opportunity to train those students in what is needed. So it’s a perfect match, where the students will have a job when they graduate, the locators will have qualified employees when they graduate,” he explained.
Peza Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Maria Veronica Magsino said Cebu’s manufacturing resurgence hinges on developing a skilled, future-ready workforce.
She said Peza will launch an AI Academy in partnership with Tesda and private firms to upskill workers in artificial intelligence and digital technologies — areas critical to the competitiveness of export-oriented industries.
“The opportunity, quality of life, and competitiveness must align,” Magsino said. “If these are present, we can retain and even bring back those who have gone abroad.”
Cebu Provincial Administrator Joseph Felix Mari “Ace” Durano said Gov. Pamela Baricuatro’s administration aims to “remove obstacles” to industrial development through policy reforms, such as revising the province’s reclamation rules and reassessing real property taxes to attract more investors and expand industrial corridors.
“Our goal is to be an enabler — to collaborate with LGUs and the private sector so more industries can grow across Cebu,” Durano said.
Industry leaders also emphasized the “boomerang effect” of overseas migration — skilled Cebuanos who leave for better pay but return home with advanced experience.
“It’s a constant churning of talent,” said Aboitiz Power’s senior vice president and chief operating officer of Distribution Business Group Anton Mari Perdices. “Many workers come back, and when they do, they’re more productive and more valuable.”
The panelists agreed that Cebu’s long-term competitiveness will depend on building an ecosystem where talent can thrive — with modern infrastructure, competitive wages and a quality of life that makes staying home as attractive as working abroad. / KOC