While the dip in our employment rate is unfortunate, we believe that the country has big prospects in the coming years, especially from the pledges for big ticket investments from the President’s efforts. Indeed, there are a lot of factors that affect the unemployment rate in the country, such as the seasonality of jobs, climate change, global trends, etc. At the start of the year, we called on the government to prepare for the 1.5 million graduates who will be joining the workforce this year. We also noted the need to factor in the entry of new technology, and emphasized the need to upskill, reskill and retool our workers for the jobs of the future.
This is the primary reason why we are pushing for a comprehensive National Employment Master Plan to synergize and harmonize labor and employment policies with our economic policies. We are grateful for the snowball of support that we have received for the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act from local government units as well as the President who gave his assurance that he will sign the measure as soon as it reaches Malacañang. The House of Representatives will deliberate on the measure next week and hopefully, the bill will become a law at the soonest possible time.
