CEBU CITY, Cebu (PIA 7) – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Region 7 is working to reduce the job mismatch in the region.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7) officer-in-charge assistant regional director Emmanuel Ferrer, during the 17th episode of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas, shared that one of the goals of DOLE Sec. Bienvenido Laguesma is to address the gaps noted between the employers needs and the skills of job seekers.
“That is the vision of our Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, to address the gap. One of the gaps that is already known to us are the challenges when a specific employer interviews job applicants, there are some (lacking) skills,” Ferrer said.
“During the job fair, we will profile them,” said Ferrer as one of their steps to determine factors resulting in the job mismatch.
An attached agency of DOLE, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) provides training or upskilling interventions needed to equip the job seekers with the necessary skills.
Ferrer said that part of the efforts of the department in addressing job mismatch is providing career guidance and their close coordination with the Industry Tripartite Council (ITC) in Education.
“For the job mismatch, we are engaged with the career guidance. And then we are closely coordinating, in Region 7, with the ITC in education. We closely coordinate with them and what are the trends within five years,” Ferrer said.
“It’s a consultative effort of DOLE here in Region 7 but it’s replicated all over the region and our Bureau of Labor and Employment will conduct a study on that and then formulate again on the interventions,” he added.
Ferrer explained that under the career guidance, DOLE-7 would be able to predict the potential trends within five years’ time.
This would help the agency and the council determine which industries would dominate in terms of employment.
During the forum, Ferrer disclosed that the top three industries providing the highest number of employment in Central Visayas are in the business process outsourcing (BPO), manufacturing, and hospitality or tourism.
Ferrer encouraged the job applicants to build up their confidence and be prepared before showing up for job interviews.
“For the job seekers, you really have to build your confidence and with that you have to become prepared,” Ferrer said. (JJT/PIA7-Cebu)
