Real underemployment situation worse than government’s admission

“We are surprised that the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) admitted the serious state of underemployment and lack of jobs in the country. On most occasions, the government would play blind and only brag about their so-called achievements in employment generation particularly Malacanang’s yearly 1 million jobs target.

“Government efforts are not actually keen on resolving the underemployment problem. In fact, it promotes underemployment by pushing new graduates to apply and look for jobs in call centers,” said KMU Spokesperson Presto Suyat. The government is relying on the continuous expansion of business process outsourcing (BPO) and call center industry to save local employment.

In its first quarter report, the Labor Force Survey (LFS) noted a 2.5 percent or 803,000 growth in call center employment as of April 2006, higher from the 32.2 million recorded during the same period last year. The Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) survey on the current workforce revealed that the underemployed rate are actually double than the number of unemployed Filipinos.

There could be more “The actual condition of underemployment is far worse than what the figures are showing. If we’ll look beyond the statistics and data, we’ll see hell right before our eyes. A big number out of the 140,000 Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong are professionals who left their jobs her or failed to get employed here and took on work as maids in HK.

Another picture of the worsening underemployment is the ‘brain drain’ happening to the local workforce. Professionals are fleeing the country to work abroad or work in call centers that are relatively high paying than other jobs.” These days, people looking for work will likely accept any paying job than not to have a job at all. Even employed individuals are seeking more means to augment their income,” Suyat said.

“The social damages of underemployment and unemployment went beyond the economic and financial aspects. It has severely corroded the moral foundations of our country and the values of our people. It stripped away dignity from many Filipinos who are living inhumane conditions.” The stern situation of joblessness in the country forces many Filipinos to desperation and hopelessness. Most seek odd jobs and involve themselves even in illegal activities for a living.”