A year after kicking off, JobStart Philippines charts its progress and future aims in front of attendees at the Department of Labor and Employment’s first Kapihan at Balitaan news forum for 2015.
Held on February 9, 2015 at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City, the Kapihan at Balitaan news forum gave DOLE’s partners and all in attendance a full view of the milestones of JobStart Philippines through formal reports and the testimonies of a select number of its beneficiaries.
The forum also stirred up anticipation for the future of the project, highlighting the wider range DOLE can reach through greater participation of its Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs).
Taking the first step
JobStart Philippines was conceived as a solution to the loss of future high-potential individuals to the realities of the academe and the professional world. The untapped capability of these individuals was seen as a possible hindrance to DOLE’s efforts to raise the Philippine workforce to a globally-competitive level.
Such a scenario prompted DOLE to implement an action plan in the form of JobStart Philippines. It received funding for the project from the Canadian National Government acting through the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Targeting youths at a disadvantage in the employment arena due to limited education or lack of real-world experience, the project identified promising individuals and provided them employability and soft skills training to cope with their disadvantages. These beneficiaries were then endorsed to prospective employers who would then provide a professionally-immersive training environment.
This framework allowed the beneficiaries to hope for a higher probability of employment and also for the chance that they would eventually be employed by the establishment who provided them training in their chosen industry.
A look at the figures
Since the beginning of this endeavor, DOLE has endorsed 462 beneficiaries of JobStart to various employers for internship (at left). That translates to 10.33% of the 4,473 registrants to the program (percentage derived independent of source article).
This can be interpreted as 9 or 10 people out of every 100 jobseekers who might have been overlooked due to certain disadvantages they had, compared to other more traditionally qualified candidates. This information presents new possibilities to human resources departments of local establishments and the talent placement and consultancy industry as a whole. The difficulty of placing qualified candidates associated with the constant changes in the pool of hopeful professionals in the country may be mitigated by the addition of candidates from other untapped sources. These sources include previously-screened candidates who did not make the cut, or sectors that are usually ignored like out-of-school youths. This group defines what Bureau of Local Employment director Dominique Tutay refers to as “at risk youth”.
Of the 462 beneficiaries of JobStart, 3 agreed to share stories of their growth and progress under the program. Attendees of the Kapihan at Balitaan bore witness to Jennifer Fortaleza, Edmond Tadeo and Ma. Krizelle Manalac as they recounted the past, affirmed the present and anticipated the future of their professional lives.
Hence and whence
From this encouraging start, DOLE gears 2015 to make good on Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz’ message that a greater number of “at risk” youths will gain fast and direct access to employment.
Director Tutay reports that the second wave of selection for JobStart Philippines will commence by February continuing through March. They will be looking at 900 registrants for the second wave, 300 of which will be provided training and internship.
Plans are also in gear to extend implementation of the second wave until December of this year.