MANILA -A World Bank report said young Filipinos were hit harder by the pandemic in terms of employment prospects, with many forced to take low-quality jobs part-time jobs.
The multilateral lender said the country “needs to create more and better jobs for young people to enable the country to regain the vibrant labor market it enjoyed pre-pandemic.”
According to “The Philippine Jobs Report: Shaping a Better Future for the Filipino Workforce" the pandemic led to a loss of high productivity jobs with low-paying occupations filling the void.
“With the strong rebound of the economy, employment indicators appear to have returned to pre-pandemic levels, but the quality of jobs remain a concern particularly for young people,” the World Bank said.
Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines said the youth was disproportionately affected by the pandemic shock on the labor market.
“While conducive business environment policies will encourage quality job creation in the private sector, more targeted approaches to address youth challenges are urgently needed,” he said.
Employment rates have risen to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority, but underemployment rates have remained high, pointing to the low quality of jobs available.
The head of the National Economic and Development Authority himself admitted that “employment created year-on-year were mostly part-time and classified as vulnerable.”
The World Bank meanwhile noted that over 60 percent of the youth population (ages between 15 and 24) was out of the labor force and the working poverty rate was higher for them even before the pandemic in 2019.
The Bank noted that youth employment last year remained low even as overall labor market indicators recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
“Active labor market programs including measures like skills training, job search assistance, wage subsidies, public works programs, and entrepreneurship promotion should be further strengthened,” said Yoonyoung Cho, Senior Economist at the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.
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