Jobless growth continues
It's not easy finding a good job nowadays. Which is a bit odd given the number of want ads on the Sunday classifieds.
This column makes a good point about the real cause of growing unemployment, which has risen to 11.3% in January compared to the same period last year, or about 4 million jobless Filipinos.
So, how come there are more Filipinos without a job when our economy grew by 6.1% and there seems to be an insatiable demand by companies?
Is there simply a mismatch between demand and supply? Call centers need to fill about 35,000 this year, yet the acceptance rate is just 3-5%. Sure, there is. But it's not really that.
"The main cause of unemployment in the Philippines is the lack of effective demand for new workers. Economic growth is largely driven by consumption, sustained by the remittances of the nation’s lifesavers—the overseas Filipino workers. In the 'real' or 'productive' side of the domestic economy, there are no signs of any major expansion in any sector outside of the telecoms and call-center industries, both of which are now reaching saturation points."
Makes sense to me.
