Labour market: labour market and employment needs in the Philippines

This series of papers was prepared for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) by a consultancy comprised of the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), Australia, and Madecor Career Systems, Philippines. ADB has previously invested in the Philippine technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector through the First Technical and Vocational Education Project (TVEPI). The papers have been prepared as the first stage of a two stage process to develop a proposal for a possible new investment by the ADB. The papers review aspects of the TVET system and provide options for operational initiatives, some of which may constitute a second project, TVEPII. The eight discussion papers in this series can be found indexed from TD/INT 59.453 to TD/INT 59.460.

This paper analyses the current state of the Philippine labour market and economy with the aim of predicting future employment needs and the implications for policy development. The paper begins with an investigation of the economy and its future directions in light of existing policies and the increasing globalisation of the world economy. The analysis then focuses on the employment situation, including labour force participation, sectoral employment, unemployment by age group and area, and the relationship between unemployment, education and occupation. The discussion of policy implications first examines the economic policies responsible for the current state of unemployment. The implications for future policy include the need for economic growth to create new jobs, training and retraining the labour force, and the encouragement of the private sector to initiate and implement training programs. Show less