MANILA – Working for government has become “more attractive” due to recent salary increases, recruitment portal Jobstreet.com said, as it noted a rise in applications for state positions.
As of March, there were 170,000 applicants for 12,000 government job openings posted on Jobstreet.com, said its country manager Philip Gioca. Postings for government jobs quadrupled from 3,000 in 2016.
“There’s a real push on standardization, the benefits are improved, people are like very much interested into that. You can see improvements not only in the salary but also in the benefits. So it’s really more attractive,” Gioca said.
Government workers are set to receive the fourth tranche of a salary increase this year under the Salary Standardization Law. President Rodrigo Duterte has also pushed for higher pay for government workers, including military personnel as well as public school teachers.
Under the National Budget Circular No. 575 released by the Department of Budget and Management on March 25, civilian personnel of the national government are entitled to a starting salary of P11,068 (Salary Grade 1), P11,761 (Salary Grade 2), P12,466 (Salary Grade 3), P13,214 (Salary Grade 4) and P14,007 (Salary Grade 5).
Starting January 2019, the basic salary for a civilian employee of the national government with a salary grade 30 is at P175,184, followed by P257,809 (Salary Grade 31), P307,365 (Salary Grade 32) and P388,096 (Salary Grade 33).
A corresponding adjustment every 3 years is implemented if the employee is not promoted, Commissioner Aileen Lizada of the Civil Service Commission told ABS-CBN News.
Filipinos who took the recent civil service examination, a prerequisite when applying for a job in the government, cited salary hikes, bonuses and promotions as among reasons why they want to work for the state, Lizada said.
There are 3 levels of government posts that Filipinos can apply for, Lizada said. The first level or the non-professional includes clerical jobs while the second or the professional level includes middle management, technical, supervisory and non-supervisory positions that require 4-year courses. Those appointed by the president fall under the third level, she said.
Lizada urged those interested to serve in government to take the civil service examination as early as possible.
“For those who like to enter government service, take the exams while studying or if you’re a fresh graduate. Take it kasi habang fresh pa ‘yung knowledge (while the knowledge is still fresh), she said.
The next Civil Service Exam – Pen and Paper Test (CSE-PPT) for the year 2019 will be administered in August 2019.
Jobseekers and fresh graduates can search for government, private and even overseas opportunities on recruitment portal Jobstreet.com Philippines, which has over 150,000 job ads and over 9 million candidates on the platform. (ABS-CBN News)
