ERADICATING poverty starts by creating an environment conducive for job creation and employment. The Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) most recent survey showed that 22 percent or 9.8 million Filipinos were unemployed.
Unemployment is a big problem. Lack of job opportunities here has forced many to seek greener pastures abroad. Last year in a monitoring made by the Associated Labor Unions – Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, there were close to 12 million unemployed and underemployed individuals. There were no new decent jobs created and if there were jobs, these had no security of tenure, or skills and jobs were mismatched.
But not much public attention has been given to perhaps one important employment measure addressing unemployment, specifically youth unemployment – the JobStart Philippines program. We wonder why.
Unemployment is high in the youth sector because companies are reluctant to hire young individuals who have no work experience or formal training. The government’s JobStart program ensures skills training, knowledge transfer and the necessary boost of confidence among the youth.
The Labor department had released the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the program, also known as Republic Act (RA) 10869, which was signed into law in 2016 yet. Now, Filipinos as young as 18 years old are guaranteed proper training by the State even as they prepare to take on the challenges associated with real-world employment.
Department Order (DO) No. 179 opens the JobStart program to Filipino citizens aged 18 to 24 years old, although those as young as 17 can already register provided that they will be 18 upon the start of training. Potential trainees must have at least reached high school level. Spelled out in IRR are the program’s full cycle employment facilitation services such as registration, client assessment, life skills training with one-on-one coaching, technical training, job matching, and referrals to employers either for further technical training, internship or for employment.
The IRR for RA 10771, otherwise known as the Green Jobs Act, was also released last year. This law provides tax incentives to companies that generate green jobs or jobs or employments that contribute to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment be it in the agriculture, industry or services sector.
The measure further defines green jobs as “decent jobs that are productive, respect the rights of workers, deliver a fair income, provide security in the workplace and social protection for families, and promote social dialogue.”
It is hoped that these two employment measures would benefit many unemployed and underemployed Filipinos.
