JOB CREATION. Applicants try their luck at a job fair organized by the Pasay Employment Services Office on June 30, 2023. Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. on Wednesday (Dec. 27, 2023) said several business groups are collaborating to generate over a million new jobs in 2024. (PNA photo by Yancy Lim)
MANILA – Three of the country’s most influential business organizations are setting in motion in January a massive employment-generation campaign that targets to yield over one million jobs in the span of about one year.
Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), on Wednesday said “Project Jobs” is being jointly pursued with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PHILEXPORT).
Ortiz-Luis said the initiative has been in the drawing board since 2021, but it never materialized due to pandemic restrictions and a change in national leadership.
He said an ECOP-led secretariat of Project Jobs will soon be established, followed by a digital platform intended to inform jobseekers how they can take part in the program.
“We (ECOP, PCCI, PHILEXPORT) have held several meetings on this (Project Jobs)… all that is left is to actually launch the program. Our member companies will soon conduct joint job fairs (as part of the initiative). There are also plans to hold training and seminars to ensure that potential hires are qualified (for the jobs to be offered),” he told the Philippine News Agency.
Ortiz-Luis, who is also PHILEXPORT’s president, said job matching mechanisms will be put together once the secretariat has been established, and from there, companies under the three business groups’ respective banners can lay out their respective workforce requirements.
He said the objective is not only to create jobs to help the unemployed, but also to ensure that member companies gain access to the most qualified workers in the labor pool.
“What makes Project Jobs unique is that now, we are targeting people from the informal sector. It is estimated that 86 percent of the country’s workforce are in the informal sector. There are many qualified workers out there who have never gotten the chance to work for a company. We want to tap this sector… and give them a chance to enjoy the stability of the formal sector,” Ortiz-Luis said.
He further revealed that the weight of the SM Group, with its numerous retail businesses, is firmly behind the program.
The business leader added Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairman of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), is one of the proponents of the private sector-led jobs campaign, and has committed to support it through companies under the SM banner.
Ortiz-Luis said that once the 1 million jobs target has been attained, the allied business organizations may opt to maintain the Project Jobs secretariat to serve as a permanent office to help member companies with sourcing and cultivating talent. (PNA)
