Employment challenge of new graduates
By this time, the country’s high schools, colleges and universities would be in the thick of preparations for their graduation ceremonies.
Depending on the inclination of school authorities, the graduates would march wearing their school uniform, or the traditional toga, or the sablay (a long sash, usually woven, with inscriptions or traditional patterns that is draped diagonally across the body), a practice that was popularized by the University of the Philippines.
With their proud and beaming parents in attendance, millions of Filipinos would receive certificates that attest to their satisfactory completion of the requirements of secondary or tertiary education.
It’s a rite of passage that Filipino families with school-age children look forward to with excitement and high hopes.
For them, the sheepskin is the result of years of hard work that paid for the education of their children and therefore deserve to be framed and displayed at a prominent place in the house.
For financial reasons, some high school graduates may have to defer their enrollment in college and seek employment in businesses that are not picky about the educational background of their employees, as long as they are willing to work hard.
With regard to college graduates, unless they have family resources that allow them to take it easy for a month or so, after the euphoria of graduation had died down, it would be time to look for job opportunities that match their four- or five-year college degrees.
Those who are able to get jobs that fit their degree should thank their lucky stars. The less fortunate ones who need to contribute to the family household or to meet their personal financial needs would have to settle for jobs that are below their expectations.
A tough job market in the Philippines awaits the new graduates.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, in July last year, some 2.3 million Filipinos between the ages of 15 and above were unemployed.
And of the 47.70 million Filipinos who are employed, approximately 5.8 million are underemployed, i.e., had expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have an additional job, or have a new job with longer hours.
They are holding on to those jobs because they are better than nothing, but would be on the constant lookout for work opportunities elsewhere that offer better employment benefits.
According to some HR (human resources) analysts, these conditions can be attributed to the imbalance or lack of coherence between the courses offered in schools and the actual needs of the labor market in the Philippines.
Recall that when IT (information technology) became popular in the 1990s, IT subjects were offered even as short-term or nondegree courses that resulted in an overwhelming surplus of IT specialists who had no places to work for.
Given this scenario, the latest entrants to the country’s workforce cannot be faulted if they opt to seek employment abroad, and what better way to do that than through the communications medium that they have grown up with—social media.
Although newspapers continue to advertise job vacancies, they do not draw as much attention as those posted in websites, apps and other online facilities that carry text, videos and images that appeal to their generation.
These effectively appeal to their naiveté and desire to see or hear something new or exciting in their daily lives.
Note that through this scheme that promised lucrative financial benefits, thousands of Filipinos had been gypped into engaging in illegal online activities in neighboring countries. The government had to rescue them from their work hellholes.
Although the government has repeatedly warned against online employment scams, some Filipinos, unfortunately, continue to fall for them, probably out of a sense of desperation over their inability to find gainful employment in the country.
Hopefully, the new graduates would not find themselves in the same spot in their search for jobs.
