Candidates strive their luck at a job honest in Could 2017 on the SM Cebu mall. Cebu’s economic system continues to develop and with it a rise in employment within the province and the area. | CDN FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Whereas the nation’s newest labor drive knowledge reveals a slight drop in unemployment, many Filipino staff are nonetheless struggling to make ends meet, with underemployment and low job high quality stay persistent challenges.
In an unique interview with CDN Digital, Lawyer Roy Buenafe, the regional director of the Division of Labor and Employment in Central Visayas (DOLE-7), acknowledged that whereas the unemployment fee in Central Visayas has improved, the financial actuality for a lot of stays troublesome.
“It’s good that our unemployment fee has dropped barely, but it surely doesn’t essentially imply our economic system is already doing nicely,” Buenafe stated.
“We even have to have a look at underemployment. Many staff now want additional revenue due to the excessive value of each day residing, particularly for our strange staff — transportation, market costs, and primary wants are nonetheless rising,” he added.
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The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on March 6 that the nationwide unemployment fee eased to 4.3 p.c in January 2025, a slight enchancment from 4.5 p.c in January 2024. This interprets to 2.16 million Filipinos with out jobs, a lower from 2.18 million in the identical interval final 12 months.
Nevertheless, regardless of this enchancment, 6.47 million Filipinos, or 13.3 p.c of the labor drive, stay underemployed, that means they’ve jobs however are actively searching for further work or longer hours to outlive financially.
Though this determine is barely decrease than the 13.7 p.c underemployment fee recorded in January 2024, it nonetheless factors to a deeper, structural subject throughout the job market: employment doesn’t at all times assure monetary safety.
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Buenafe warned {that a} low unemployment fee alone shouldn’t be seen as an indication of financial success.
“We can not say that even when unemployment is low, our economic system is already sturdy. We nonetheless should be vigilant, particularly right here in Central Visayas,” he stated.
Extra staff taking additional jobs, longer hours
Knowledge from the PSA additionally reveals worrying developments about work hours. The common weekly hours labored dropped from 42.2 hours in January 2024 to 40.4 hours in January 2025, indicating fewer alternatives for full-time employment or time beyond regulation pay.
Alarmingly, the variety of Filipinos reporting just one hour of labor per week elevated to 59,000 this 12 months from 34,000 final 12 months, highlighting the rise of unstable, irregular work preparations.
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Economists have additionally raised considerations that whereas extra Filipinos are getting jobs, many of those are low-paying, contractual, or casual jobs that always lack safety, social advantages, and profession development alternatives.
A current Inquirer report listed the highest high-paying and in-demand jobs within the Philippines this 2025, akin to Gross sales Marketing campaign Supervisor, Lead Era Specialist, and SaaS Product Supervisor, with salaries starting from P30,000 to P180,000 per 30 days.
Nevertheless, these positions require specialised abilities and expertise, highlighting the widening hole between job seekers’ {qualifications} and market calls for.
Dole requires abilities upgrading, trade shift
To deal with the mismatch between obtainable jobs and the talents of the workforce, Buenafe stated the company could be pushing for stronger intervention measures.
“We actually want intervention. We should upskill and improve our workforce. Many high-paying jobs right now are troublesome to fill as a result of we lack certified candidates…We can not simply concentrate on rising employment numbers. We have now to make sure the standard of jobs improves too,” Buenafe defined.
Buenafe emphasised that the Philippine economic system could be shifting towards the fifth Industrial Revolution, which might demand staff with extra superior technical and digital abilities.
He additionally harassed the essential function of the schooling sector in reshaping the workforce to satisfy these new trade calls for.
“The academe performs an important function. TESDA, which is below DOLE, has aggressive applications to deal with job mismatch — an issue we’ve confronted for a very long time…We could not resolve every part instantly, however at the very least we’re engaged on stopping larger issues sooner or later,” he stated.
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