PasaJob app founder and CEO Kristen Mariano said that while the government claims that enough jobs have been created to offset those that were lost in 2020, the quality of jobs has not improved to pre-pandemic levels.
Last April, the Asian Development Bank also said that the pandemic could leave a lasting impact on employment in the Philippines as job creation has shifted to less stable and lower-quality jobs. Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority the Philippines has an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent, as of May. That translates to 3.73 million unemployed individuals aged 15 years and above. That is 408 thousand less compared to April’s total of 4.14 million.
The skills gap meanwhile is something that has been talked about by the government and several industries such as the pandemic resilient BPO sector. "In terms of the job market, we are seeing greater demand for healthcare roles, also from the STEM industry, that would be science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”