THE Department of Labor and Employment-Davao Region (Dole-Davao) said that over 7,000 jobs will be available at the Labor Day Job Fair on May 1, 2024, in the major cities in the region.
Atty. Randolf C. Pensoy, Dole-Davao regional director, said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday, April 22, 2024 at SM Ecoland, that there are around 7,524 job vacancies. He said there are 105 employers, of which 97 are local and eight are overseas.
Pensoy added that there are 6,262 local job vacancies.
The top 10 available jobs are customer service representative, sales representative, sales representative, sales associate clerk, technical support, cashier, merchandiser, accounting staff, promodizer, kitchen staff/sales specialist, and helper.
Meanwhile, there are 1,262 overseas job vacancies, and the top available jobs are cleaners, factory workers, nurses, salespeople, and shelving workers/merchandisers.
The department said that the job fair will have pre-registration on the Dole website, and the actual registration will take place in three areas: SM Ecoland, Gaisano Grand Mall in Digos City, and Gaisano Mall of Tagum.
“For that we are inviting applicants considering that we have this 7,524 job vacancies registered for filling of any positions,” he said.
“We are expecting na with these 105 employers they can also facilitate more employment,” he continued.
In the Kalayaan Job Fair in 2023, there were only around 1,588 registered vacant positions, and 273 applicants were hired on the spot.
Pensoy also highlighted that the region's unemployment rate increased from 2023 to 2024, although the labor force decreased during the same period.
“If we compare our labor force of last year and this year, our labor force participation last year was 63.2 percent in January 2023. And if we compare this in 2024 January, 60.7 percent so it decreased, but if we consider the unemployment rate in January 2023, 4.5 percent, it is high, 95.5 percent so our employment rate is high. The unemployment rate in January 2024, 3.3 percent so our employment is 96.7 percent,” he said.
He said some of the factors for the decrease in the labor force in the region are that some of the workers have retired and others are going back to school. Maerielle S. Luchavez, ADDU Intern with reports from RGP