What the PH Employment Landscape looks like this 2021
PH employment in 2021 – will it be good news or a slow roll? Let’s unpack.
In November 2020, we shared a list of industries in the Philippines that are currently looking to expand more positions to unemployed Filipinos. This 2021, let’s get a headstart and look at which industries are fruitful for employment this year.
There are 3.8 million unemployed individuals in the Philippines as of October 2020, which is equivalent to an 8.7 percent unemployment rate. This is according to a study by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Because of the pandemic, countries, including the Philippines had to follow strict quarantine protocols. This resulted in the closure of establishments, downsizing in companies, and for many businesses – bankruptcy.
The big question is, will 2021 be a promising year for PH employment?
New Working-Age Population
The Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) has called on the government regarding the importance of producing more jobs this 2021. “At least half a million new jobs” should be created to combat the increase of the working-age population. This is in accordance with the projections made by Popcom.
“This means that the country, in the middle of this crisis, we still need to create new jobs for at least half a million based on the existing employment ratios,” said Popcom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III.
That’s a lot of jobs for a lot of people. Can we do it? We think so.
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Job or industries to watch out for
According to a list by LinkedIn, an online platform connecting the world’s professionals, there are at least fifteen (15) jobs in Southeast Asia that are seen to grow this year.
These are:
- Digital Content
- Data Analyst
- Software & Technology
- Finance & Insurance
- Education
- Digital Marketing
- E-commerce
- Business Development and Sales
- Healthcare or Medical Support
- Customer Service
- Healthcare or Medical Frontline
- Roles in Cyber Security
- Supply Chain
- Public Relations
- Specialized Engineering
Delivery services such as Lalamove, Grab, Foodpanda, etc. are also seeing a significant growth in expanding their service offerings, which should open up more possibilities for PH employment.
For those in MSMEs (Micro, Small to Medium Enterprises), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has announced its plan to launch a lending program. This program seeks to step up the recovery of affected businesses caused by the pandemic.
After a successful online job fair event last year, the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) announced another round of an online job fair event this February.
2020 gave us an overview of what the employment industry in the Philippines currently looks like. As we pace back into normalcy, we can expect that the above-mentioned industries are the essential jobs post-pandemic.
Of course, supporting local is still adviseable, as a nation. At the end of the day, we have each other.
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