Jobs Advisory Group Led By SM's Sy-Coson Aims To Boost PH Employment

The Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Jobs Sector Group, led by SM Investments Corp. Vice Chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson, has vowed to pursue efforts to boost employment in the country.

Sy-Coson laid down the group's goal, which is to connect Filipinos and companies and align their skills with available jobs. I Photo: Faruk Pinjo, World Economic Forum

During the sector’s meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang, Sy-Coson said, “We all know that there are employment challenges: underemployment and unemployment. Although unemployment today has decreased to 3.1 percent, we continue our work... which is addressing limited job opportunities for a growing population, job and skills mismatch, and job distribution imbalance due to geographic and economic factors."

She added, "We aim to reduce unemployment through job matching and enhancing employability through job upskilling and bridging job distribution gaps."

Sy-Coson laid down their group's goal, which is to connect Filipinos and companies and align their skills with available jobs. The Jobs Sector Group is also looking into conducting weekly job fairs and plans to take further steps to harness available employment opportunities, she said.

She mentioned that they are putting the discussion points into an action plan.

The group has also expressed support for certification programs and courses as well as collaborations with various industries and government agencies like the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and PESO (Public Employment Service Offices).

“Both of them are very cooperative in our job fairs. Since we accelerated two months ago, more than 450 companies and over 5,000 job seekers have participated, with about 18 percent of them being hired on the spot,” she said.

“So, for 2024, the job fairs for 41 weeks in 70 malls are already scheduled with the aim of increasing the number of those hired. This is the job fair that we have tested, and it has been successful, so we’re going to continue and expand,” she further stated.

The group's meeting with the president also addressed Philippine Global Competitiveness, particularly by addressing investors’ concerns such as talent pool, incentives, and ease of doing business.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier reported that the number of employed Filipinos reached 50.52 million in December 2023, with 0.88 million jobs generated since November 2023.

The country’s unemployment rate further declined in December last year to its lowest rate since April 2005, the PSA added.

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