KEYNOTE MESSAGE

HON. ROSALINDA DIMAPILIS-BALDOZ

Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment

2nd National Career Advocacy Congress

29-30 May 2014, Midas Hotel, Pasay City

Chairperson Patricia Licuanan (CHED),

Chairperson Teresita Manzala (PRC),
Undersecretary Fortunato dela Pea (DOST),
Deputy Director-General Irene Isaac (TESDA),
Commissioner Jose Rafael Cruz (NYC) and our delegates from various youth organizations,
Our resource persons from national and international organizations,
To our friends from the private sector,
Guidance counselors, career advocates, PESO Managers,
My fellow colleagues in government,
Partners from the media
And to all participants present here today, Magandang umaga po.

The jobs and skill mismatch remains a serious problem in our country. Our recent experience
with filling up 372 new plantilla positions of labor law compliance officers took us almost
two years and we are just in the homestretch to completing the selection and appointments.
It was very telling for a Department like the DOLE that facilitates employment services. Our
experience taught us that we also need career guidance, counseling and advocacy for those
inclined to enter government service.

It is very disappointing that many first time job seekers do not even know about the Civil
Service Commission and about civil service eligibility, which is a "must" for those who want
to work in the public sector.

Another good lesson we learn is the abundance of labor market information to source job
applicants. We choose from 900 job applicants which we solicited through our website,
PhilJob-net, private job ads board, job fairs, and professional organizations. Our shortlisted
applicants, though, fall short of the required number due to a number of factors. Our
standards include integrity, adequacy in communication skills, customer orientation in terms
of a mind set that can facilitate compliance, and capacity to solve problems given the
frontline nature of the functions.

While all possess the academic degree, many lack the civil service eligibility. Others lack the
relevant experience. There are those who have behavioral or attitude problems and they are
not open to change. Many are deficient critical and creative thinking needed in problem
solving. There are those who are poor in communication skills critical in inter-personal
relationship.

Overall, the soft skills gap is more apparent among recently graduated than applicants who
have experience already. These problems and difficulties in hiring that we encounter are the
same set of hurdles that many employers face in the labor market. They are the same
findings that we continue to read survey after survey on the topic. They present formidable
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challenge in making our education and training system responsive and relevant to the needs
of employers and industries and in making their graduates easily employable and absorbed
in the labor market.

It is in this context that in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino in July
2011, he directed the DOLE, DepEd, CHED and TESDA to review the education and training
curriculum to suit the skills requirements of the industries.
This marching order from the President prompted these agencies under the Human
Development and Poverty Reduction (HDPR) Cluster of the Cabinet, in collaboration with
DOST and PRC, to develop and implement four convergent programs to address job-skill
mismatch in the country, one of which is the Career Guidance Advocacy Program or CGAP.

In May 2012, the 1st National Career Advocacy Congress (NCAC) was held with no less than
the President himself as the Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker. The President said, and I
quote: mukhang nagkakasundo na tayo dito referring to the objective of his Cabinet
members in addressing job-skill mismatch, iwan ko na lang kayong magtrabaho para
mayroon na ho tayong mas mabilis na solusyon sa atin pong hinaharap (emphasis
supplied).

But the biggest challenge of this administration is how to translate the sustained high
economic growth into jobs and not just jobs, but decent jobs. Jobs that are protected by our
labor and social legislations are what our economy needs. Making it easy for employers to
hire the right workers for the right jobs is what this Congress is all about.

The Premise: Extended School-to-Work Transition and Industry Practices

The Philippine labor market is challenged by two persisting concerns: (1) the very high level
of educated unemployed youth (34.1% have reached college level; 44.4% reached high
school); and (2) the steady underemployment rate, which stands at 19.0%-20.0% and is
closely linked to poverty.

Talking of the educated unemployed youth, I also remember that in the early days of this
Administration, I was given a memo by PRC on the results of the nursing licensure exam that
shows graduates of many colleges and universities hardly made it in the exams. I thought of
informing the President about it and he called us to a meeting together with CHED Chair
Licuanan and PRC Chair Tess Mansala. I remember that it was in that meeting where he
instructed CHED to monitor the performance of colleges and universities in terms of quality
of their graduates as gauged by the results of the licensure exam, give them the chance to
improve their services, otherwise, suspend the grant of the course or courses. I understand
this is one big headache that Chair Tati Licuanan has to confront with great moral courage.

This labor market situation is all the more ironic as more and more people obtain
qualifications that the labor market does not require, making it more and more difficult for
employers to hire them.

This is not true in the Philippines alone, but even globally. The Manpower Groups 2013
Talent Shortage Survey identifies significant proportion of employers who report difficulty
filling positions in their organization. Cited shortcomings of applicants include lack of
technical and workplace competencies (hard and soft skills). Tech-voc education in our
country has been relegated in the past as second class career but today, skilled workers who
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are graduates of TESDA, especially those done in partnership with companies and industries,
are in demand in the market. Soft skills are also mostly wanting in our job seekers.

As I said earlier, this phenomenon is not true in our country alone, but in the global market.
We will hear more about the survey results from the Manpower Group Inc. Regional Office
in Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Rommel Roque and Mr. Sam Haggad, who are here to join us. I
have been following the results of your surveys and I thought it might be useful if we invite
you. Thank you for accepting our invitation to this Congress.

The Asian Development Bank has its own study in 2013 on the Filipino youth labor market
experience, describing school-to-work transition for young Filipinos as associated with
change, waiting, and uncertainty. The study reveals that school leavers, particularly from high
school, are having the most difficulty in integrating themselves in the labor market. For
instance, it takes a college graduate one year to find his first job and up to two years to find
a permanent job. On the other hand, a high school-leaver takes three years to find his first
job and four years to get a permanent employment. The young persons educational
attainment and age are strong factors influencing school-to-work transition. The persons
behavior towards job searching and his family social networks are also regarded as
determinants to finding their first jobs.

The qualification standards in industry recruitment and hiring practices also affect the skills
mismatch. This is evident in the results of the 2011/2012 BLES Integrated Survey (BITS) of the
Philippine Statistics Authority where the various criteria on recruitment, i.e., minimum
educational requirement, degree/course, gender, age, skills are considered by establishments
in the hiring of applicants.

According to the report, more than two-fifths (42.2%) of the vacancies for entry-level jobs,
or those starting positions in establishments which require little or no experience at all,
needed college undergraduates. Almost three-fifths of entry-level job vacancies were mainly
for young job applicants belonging to age groups 25-30 years (30.5%) and 15-24 years
(28.7%).

Evidently, there are jobs in the market for our young applicants, even those who have not
finished a degree. But it is alarming to report that entry-level job applicants are poor on
organization, managing, and planning skills, critical and creative thinking skills; and problem-
solving and decision-making skills. This highlights the rising trend on the importance of soft
skills in our educational training system for greater employability of our graduates.

What we have done

In the Panel Discussion, you will hear updates from my co-Cabinet members and heads of
agencies.

On the part of the DOLE, our newest venture in addressing job-skill among the youth is the
JobStart Philippines Program.

JobStart has been drawing support from groups of business representatives because of its
innovative approach in addressing unemployment, particularly youth unemployment; its
enhanced career coaching and life skills training as part of the pre-employment preparation
of young adults.
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The program, assisted by the Government of Canada and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
was conceived to have a model or framework for the delivery of full cycle employment
facilitation service to enhance the employability of youth by assisting them in making
informed career decisions, and by giving them a chance to develop their hard and soft skills,
and have work experience necessary to succeed in todays competitive labor market.

The in-take for JobStart participants shall commence next month targeting 1,600 youth
beneficiaries in four (4) local government units, through our Public Employment Service
Offices. I am glad to note that we have the officers from the PESOPhil and designated career
coaches from the PESOs from all regions.

I have high hopes that through JobStart, the employment facilitation services of our PESOs,
particularly the delivery of one-on-one career guidance and employment coaching, will be
more systematic and effective. I am equally thankful to our private sector employers who
have officially pledged to participate in the JobStart program by providing six-month
internship to the youth beneficiaries.

Among those who responded positively to the JobStart program are the Pampanga Chamber
of Commerce, Gateway Business Park, First Cavite Industrial Estate, Cavite Economic Zone
Investors Association, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Fresh N Famous
Foods, Inc., to name a few. If the pilot project is successful, and I know it will succeed, the
government will use public funds to expand the program to other areas.

Last December 2013, we have launched the Career Guidance Advocacy Plan 2013-2016
during the National Human Resource Summit.

I would like to congratulate the CGAP Working Group which has stirred the implementation
of the joint activities under the Plan. Through the Regional Offices of DOLE and its partner
agencies, including industry partners, Regional Career Advocacy Congresses (RCACs) are
conducted annually, bringing down to the regional level our advocacy on career guidance to
raise the level of awareness of our partners to the pressing issues of job-skill mismatch and
youth unemployment.

I am deeply grateful for the very strong collaboration of DOLE, DepEd, CHED, TESDA and
PRC, including the private sector and the academe at the regional and local levels, in the
conduct of LMI and career advocacy activities.

We were able to reach about two (2) million students, jobseekers and other interest
stakeholders in providing LMI and career information nationwide. Our gratitude also goes
to the private sector partners--the IT/BPM, ECOP, PMAP, Chambers of Commerce, Philippine
Software Industry Association, PCCI, PALSCON, PAPRA among others--in key employment
generating industries (KEGs) for providing us labor market signals on in-demand and hard-
to-fill occupations contained in the recent JobsFit Report, 2013-2020 and accompanied by
20 occupational pamphlets in SMEs.

At present, there are 104 established Networks of Guidance Counselors with 4,309
members both from public and private schools all over the country. To note, we have started
with only 62 Networks with 2,350 members in 2011. Members of the networks are being

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tapped to facilitate and provide the much needed tools and expertise in the conduct of
DOLEs advocacy seminars.

In 2013, with the continuous support of the NGCCAs, there had been 5,461 career guidance
and employment coaching (CGEC) advocacy activities that were conducted nationwide,
covering almost 813,256 participating students and parents, and 4,193 schools, colleges,
and universities. These activities are viewed as the vehicle for labor market information
dissemination too.

Further, the issuance of departmental policy on the nationwide conduct of Career Guidance
Week every July is a commendable initiative by the Department of Education. The first ever
simultaneous conduct of the Career Guidance Week was held last year in all public schools. It
is imperative to mainstream career guidance in the school curriculum so that the
consciousness on careers and the value or ethics of work are inculcated in the minds of our
young kids in school.

The PRCs leadership, with support from the Professional Boards, is also stepping up in
spearheading the Capacity-Building Seminar-Workshop for Guidance Counselors and
Career Advocates to ensure that we continuously train our career advocates and guidance
counselors who play a crucial role in shaping the minds of the youth in making decisions
about their future. A seminar-workshop was conducted in 2013; two more activities are
lined-up this year and will continue beyond 2016.

A key result of these capacity-building activities is the organization of the National

Federation of Career Guidance Advocates of the Philippines (NFCGAP) consisting of
Presidents/officers from the 16 regional federation of guidance counselors and career
advocates. The National Federation would have a huge task of sustaining career guidance
advocacy activities at the local level.

In partnership with the TESDA, the DepEd was also instrumental in the passage of Executive
Order 83 on 1 October 2012, institutionalizing the Philippine Qualifications Framework
(PQF). The PQF was developed to establish coherent national and internationally
benchmarked structure for all qualifications awarded in the country, thereby supporting the
mobility of learners and workers. In the last PQF-NCC Executive Meeting held during the 1st
quarter this year, we have agreed on the descriptors for professionals in levels 6-8. Pursuant
to this policy, TESDA will release this year its registry of qualifications in four (4) identified
sectors, i.e. Tourism, Agri-Fishery, Food Processing, and Maritime. For the professionals, there
are two--dentistry and engineering.

A parallel effort to the institutionalization of the PQF and to keep the competitiveness of our
countrys human resource locally and globally, we have been engaging in the development
of the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) in order to have a unified scheme
for greater learner and labor mobility in the region. The Task Force on ASEAN Qualifications
Reference Framework, headed by no less than PRC Chairperson Manzala, finalized and
completed the AQRF during its 4th Task Force Meeting in Myanmar last March. The AQRF
was submitted to the ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Meeting last April for endorsement
by the Leaders at the 25th ASEAN Summit in November this year.

What we intend to do--Thrusts and Priorities of CGAP

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The updated Philippine Development Plan intends to achieve the national goal of massive
generation of quality employment and substantial reduction of the multiple dimensions of
poverty. In support of the Presidents job generation agenda, we intend to reduce the
transaction costs of information between the jobseekers and the demanders of skills
towards the efficient functioning of the labor market.

The CGAP 2013-2016 would also support the 26 industry roadmaps by complimenting
them with human resource development (HRD) plan that will prepare and harness the
skills and talents of the various industries now and in the future. This makes the task of the
CGAP Working Group and the National Federation of Career Guidance Advocates of the
Philippines even more fundamental.

The DOLE and PRC would develop a standard module on career guidance and counselling
intended to be used for trainers training to increase the pool of experts and well trained
career advocates at the regional and provincial levels.

Tomorrow, the second day of our Congress, TESDA and CHED will officially introduce to the
public our 12 Career Ambassadors, all representing their respective profession/occupation;
six (6) for higher education and another six (6) from technical-vocation education and
training. As Career Ambassadors, they will actively participate in the implementation of CGAP
activities; deliver career talks in various career advocacy activities, such as Career Guidance
Week, and in various media, such as radio/TV talk shows and interviews. We invite our
friends from the media to witness their formal appointment tomorrow.

We look forward to DOSTs development and publication of CGAP blog site for a more
interactive and real time information on labor market, career stories, and event update.

Our guidance counselors and career advocates at the regional and local levels are equally
challenged to reach more students, jobseekers, parents and stakeholders at the
grassroots. We got feedback from the youth sector during the recently concluded National
Youth Parliament in Manila that there are still disadvantaged groups, such as the indigenous
peoples and our Muslim brothers and sisters in Mindanao, which our publications on labor
market information and career guidance activities have not yet reached. They were very
surprised and appreciative of the governments programs and projects to address
employment concerns affecting the youth and hoped that these would cater to more
intended constituents.

The need to take sustained action to improve career guidance as we press our future thrusts
and priorities for CGAP this year until 2016. This event is a convergence of ideas to make
sure that the continuity of our endeavors will not diminish with the passing of time.
Establishing deeper ties further unifies our motives and strengthens our partnership in the
implementation of CGAP. With the Career Guidance Advocacy Plan, our partner agencies can
share and maximize the utilization of resources, including information. As a result, we avoid
duplication of efforts and we add value to each others work.

I call on the support of the guidance counselors and career advocates. I challenge the newly
created National Federation of Career Advocates in the Philippines to promote career
guidance and share good practices. I also look forward to the contributions of the different
groups, particularly our industry partners, in terms of their concrete contributions in the

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Action Planning Session tomorrow. We value your inputs as we expand the convergence
programs of the government with that of the private sector, academe and that of the youth.

This is a continuing endeavor; rest assured that we have a strong commitment to pursue the
implementation of CGAP activities, and more.

Thank you.

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