(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd is confident that President Rodrigo Duterte's goal to generate enough jobs to stop Filipinos from seeking work abroad can be obtained through the implementation of major infrastructure programmes that is seen to create 3mn jobs in three years.
'I think it's achievable, said Bello during the maiden telecast of Manila Times' 'Keeping up with The Times forum.
He cited projections that at least 800,000 to 1mn jobs would be created per year until 2022 under the administration's ‘Build, Build, Build' programme.
'By the time the president's term expires (in 2022), we will already have 3mn employees with security of tenure, he said.
'The final goal of the president is to repatriate all of them. That is why he came out with this ‘Build, Build, Build' programme, he added.
The Labour secretary earlier admitted there is a shortage of skilled workers in the construction, architecture and engineering sectors, which are vital to the government's infrastructure programme.
'There is a strong local jobs growth, but vacancies are not filled either because of skilled workers going abroad or their skills do not match the available jobs in the market. That's why Department of Labour and Employment (DoLE) is working together with concerned agencies to up-skill our workers and urge them to work locally, Bello said.
Earlier, DoLE reported a year-on-year increase of 468,000 jobs generated in the construction sector based on a survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2018, which showed that total employment in the sector reached 4.012mn from 3.544mn during the same period in 2017 or an increase of 13.2%. The construction sector is the largest contributor to employment among the industry subsection during the period, which the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said could be attributed to the infrastructure spending of the government through its ‘Build Build Build' programme.
According to NEDA, demand for workers in the sector is expected to grow further as more projects break ground.
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