DOLE to hold 3 mega job fairs in September

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)  is set to conduct three mega job fairs this month to help address the country’s unemployment rate, Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said Wednesday.

In a media briefing, Laguesma announced the DOLE will hold the “Bagong Pilipinas Job Fair” in 69 sites across the country on September 13.

At least 915 employers registered for the project, which is expected to fill up a total of 67,022 job vacancies.

The top vacancies were production operator/worker (5,597), customer service representatives (1,420), cashier/bagger/sales clerk (977), laborer/carpenter/painter (502), and waiter/server/cook/service crew (433).

Among the top industries participating included manufacturing, business process outsourcing, retail and sales, construction, and financial and insurance activities.

Meanwhile, the two other job fairs will be held on September 18 to September 20 at the World Trade Center and September 19 to September 21 at the SMX Convention Center.

Last week, the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) said the number of jobless Filipinos increased to 2.38 million in July as young individuals, who graduated from college or senior high school and entered the labor force, did not land jobs during the period.

This translates to an unemployment rate of 4.7%, higher than the 3.1% joblessness rate in June.

The PSA also said the number of employed persons in July decreased to 47.70 million from 50.28 million in June, translating to an employment rate of 95.3% down from 96.9% month-on-month.

The underemployment rate, meanwhile, stood at 12.1%, translating to 5.78 million of the 47.70 million employed individuals who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work.

Earlier, Laguesma said the DOLE would address the uptick in the unemployment rate through programs strengthening "youth employability."

“Isang dahilan lang ang pagpasok ng new entrants. Kung gagawin natin na month-on-month, hindi niya naca-capture ang characteristics ng ating labor market. Anjan ‘yung seasonality and the other we were adversely affected ng calamities. Ang more reliable ay year-to-year basis,” said Laguesma.

(There is only one reason for the entry of new players. If we do it on a month-on-month basis, it won't capture the characteristics of our labor market. You have seasonality and we were also severely affected by calamities. A more reliable approach is on a year-to-year basis.)

POGO

Meanwhile, the DOLE reiterated it is “ready” to extend assistance to Filipino workers employed legal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hubs which may shut down operations before the end of the year.

Laguesma said there are 54 legal POGO hubs that shifted to Internet Gaming Licensees (IGLs) in the country.

“Wala pang nagsasara doon sa mga legal…Kahapon pa nakahanda na. Just to be very clear, ang mga programa ay naririyan, ifo-focus lang po,” he said.

(No one has closed those legal issues yet. We've been ready since yesterday. Just to be very clear, the programs are already in place, we're just focusing on them.)

Latest data from the DOLE showed an estimated 40,000 Filipino workers will be affected by the ban on POGOs. Of the figures, Laguesma said about 70% or a total of 26,996 workers were profiled — lower than the 30,000 employees the agency previously reported during a Senate hearing on their 2025 proposed national budget.

“Estimated ‘yun kaya kinakailangan namin mag-validate, mag-profile, bumaba directly sa mga kompanya para madtermine namin kung ‘yan na talaga ang bilang ng mga matatamaan,” he explained.

(We need to validate, create a profile, and go directly to the companies to determine if that's the exact number of those who will be affected.)

The DOLE is targeting to finish the profiling by September, which aims to inspect the affected workers’ skill set, their wages, and job descriptions. It will likewise determine if the workers need to undergo upskilling, retraining, and training under Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Meanwhile, the DOLE is set to conduct a job fair for the displaced Filipino POGO workers on October 1.

“We have scheduled a special jobs fair for them on the first week of October para matingnan anong klase ng interventions ang dapat nilang matanggap sa DOLE. It could be employment facilitation, and direct referral to agencies,” said Laguesma. “We would also complement with possible upskilling, and retooling”.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during his third State of the Nation Address, announced the ban on all POGOs in the country. --VAL, GMA Integrated News