MINDFUL of the importance jobs to Filipinos, the government is working double time to address underemployment and unemployment in the country.

According to the Labor Force Survey as of June 6 this year, most of the labor statistics improved from April 2023 to 2024 with employment rate up from 95.50 percent to 96 percent, and employed individuals increasing from 48.06 million to 48.46 million.

On the other hand, the country’s unemployment rate decreased from 4.50 percent to 4.00 percent. The number of unemployed individuals also went down from 2.26 million to 2.04 million, indicating that 220,000 individuals gained employment opportunities.

However, the Labor Force Survey showed the underemployed individuals increased by 1.70 percent, or 12.90 percent to 14.60 percent, while the labor force participation rate rose by 1.00 percent, or 65.10 percent to 64.10 percent.

Based on the Philippine Labor Market, the service sector took up 61.40 percent of the labor industry, followed by the agricultural sector at 20.30 percent, while the remaining 18.30 percent went to the industry sector.

In his speech during the 2024 National Employment Summit on Thursday in Manila, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the government has laid out various strategies to generate job opportunities for Filipinos.

Among these efforts are the Philippine Development Plan, the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan, Strategic Investment Priority Plan, Workforce Development Plan, and the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) plan.

“Beyond generating employment, what we want to achieve is creating quality jobs, with special emphasis on ensuring workers’ welfare, empowerment, competitiveness, and security in all sectors of our labor sector,” President Marcos said.

“This is why the government is working doubly hard to address the proverbial problems that we have always faced — job-skills mismatch, underemployment, [and] unemployment through the reforms in our basic education curriculum, the embedding of TVET in the Senior High School curriculum, and the implementation of employment facilitation initiatives,” he added.

TVET means Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Senior High Schools, aimed at bridging the skills and employment of young Filipino leaders.

Records from July 2022 to May 2024 showed that 2.746 million learners graduated from various TVET programs.

President Marcos was the guest of honor and keynote speaker during the summit organized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Key players and stakeholders in the labor sector gathered in the event to formulate the TPB Plan.

The TPB Plan is a 10-year roadmap that serves as the government’s guide towards greater employment generation and recovery. It’s one of the driving forces to create three million new job opportunities by 2028. | PND

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