PHL construction industry lacks local skilled workers – expert

The Philippine construction industry was experiencing a serious lack of skilled workers, a recruitment and migration expert said on Monday.

"We don't have enough skilled workers to fill the construction gap right now," Emmanuel Geslani told GMA News' Athena Imperial in a "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho" report.

"TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) is not training enough skilled workers like master electricians, plumbers, welders," Geslani added

"There was a lull in the construction activities in the Philippines. So therefore, the government failed to implement a national training policy to train all construction workers that have not left the country."

Geslani also pointed out that those who had adequate training eventually found work abroad, with payed higher salaries.

President Rodrigo Duterte himself admitted that his administration's flagship infrastructure program was affected by the shortage.

"Kaya 'yang 'Build, Build, Build' medyo atrasado nang konti, walang trabahante. Ang karamihan ng may alam niyan, wala na dito sa Pilipinas at doon na sa Middle East," the president explained.

Due to the lack of qualified local skilled workers, some Chinese laborers were used to fill the gap and were being paid three times as more than locals, said Geslani.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), from late 2015 to late 2018, 2,000 Chinese workers had been given employment in the construction industry. These construction workers  were among the 51,000 Chinese nationals who were given permits to work in the country.

During that three year period, the Philippine unemployment rate was at 5.3 percent - equivalent to 2.3 million jobless Filipinos.

Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations (CREBA) President Noel Cariño argued that adequate training, not the labor force, was insufficient.

"Kulang ang kaalaman sa pagpurisgi na magkaroon ng skilled labor, so siguro dun ang pasok ng gobyerno rather than replacing them with other workers from other countries," Cariño said.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said previously that work permits for foreign nationals, specifically in the construction industry, would only be issued if their services were among those Filipinos could not provide. — Dona Magsino/DVM, GMA News