DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 Feb) – The region’s labor market has fewer vacant jobs this year due to damaged industries and agricultural lands in areas affected by typhoon Pablo, particularly in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley provinces, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
A total of 100,033 jobs will be available for this year or 56 percent fewer than last year’s 228,689 solicited job vacancies, according to Lariele P. Arce, senior labor employment officer of the DOLE-11 technical services and support division.
Out of 228,689 total vacant jobs in the region last year, only 64,489 persons were hired out of 77,498 registered applicants.
DOLE-11 eyed 74,828 registered applicants this year, which according to Arce is achievable, adding that the hiring will prioritize applicants who were victims of typhoon Pablo.
There were a total of 57 job fairs conducted last year, six of which had been initiated by the DOLE-11 during its three annual events, specifically for Labor Day celebration in May, Kalayaan on June 12, and the DOLE anniversary in December.
Arce noted that the emerging industries include construction, banking, cyberservices, hospitality, e-healthcare, agriculture and fisheries, and renewable energy.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in the DOLE’s official news magazine that in 2012 salaries of construction workers and those in cyberservices industry range from P13,000 to P40,000; and banking and finance workers, and those in renewable energy sector range from P15,000 to P40,000.
She said entry level monthly salaries of medical coders, who ensure standard medical coding in all diagnostics, range from P14,000 to P18,000; and, medical billers, who manages patient accounts and submits claims to insurance companies, P15,000.
Initial pay for medical butlers range from P13,000 to P16,000, and those who will get further education can become specialists or work as independent consultants, Baldoz said.
She cited that restaurant and tourism services industry, which is one of the 12 key employment generators, “has a potential for absorbing the most number of workers in the next 10 years.”
In agri-business, there are job opportunities such as agricultural economists, animal husbandry, aqua-culturists, coconut farmers, entomologists, fruit, vegetable and root crops farmers, fishermen, horticulturists, plant mechanics, rice thresher operators or mechanics, veterinarians and pathologists, she cited.
Labor market information such as the number of the labor force, employed, unemployed and underemployed, job openings and job prospects, human resource development trends, industry profiles and industry situationers, in-demand profiles, and skills and supply shortages/surpluses are all available at government offices, the DOLE said.
Joffrey Suyao, DOLE-11 regional director, explained in an interview that the DOLE “is not the generator of jobs” but only facilitates an industry that needs labor, adding that the department is a “job matching facility.” (Lorie Ann A. Cascaro / MindaNews)
