An Overview of Economic Growth and Job Creation

By Grace C. Sorongon

I was recently invited to participate in a discussion with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) with other private and public stakeholders on a topic which is very close to my heart: job creation. Apparently, USAID is conducting a study to diagnose the issues on job trends and job growth. The study also seeks to understand the role of the Philippines’ educational system in training the workers needed by various industry groups.

The study showed that unemployment from 2006 to 2015 is falling behind, but underemployment remains high. This means that the skills set of graduates are not properly utilized. The opportunities are concentrated mainly in the services sector, with agriculture and manufacturing lagging behind. Job prospects in these two sectors are poor. It was also shown in the study that while supply of labor is enough, our educational system is not training these graduates properly to immediately become competent workers. As a result, companies end up training them, resulting in additional operational expenses for them. The Philippines, as we know, is not competitive compared to our ASEAN neighbors in terms of infrastructure and labor regulations.

The following are the USAID’s recommendations to the government:

· Provide more support to agricultural and manufacturing industries, and when possible, design incentive programs to reward job creations;

· Reduce transaction costs and make it easy for companies to do business in the Philippines;

· Enhance the agro-processing value chain and increase productivity and diversity.

While the items covered by this discussion are not entirely new to me, it was still a great avenue for learning as there was a healthy exchange of ideas.

Come visit and join the John Clements Talent Community.

About the author:

Grace Sorongon was the 2013 president of People Management Association of the Philippines. She has been working with John Clements Consultants for more than three decades now. She is a Senior Vice President and is in charge of various corporate projects, steering these projects towards completion. She also manages the operations of Professional Staffers, a business unit within the John Clements group.