Govt agencies urged to step up job fairs to ease unemployment

AMID record-high joblessness in the country brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers have filed a resolution urging government agencies to intensify online job fairs to further ease unemployment in the country, speed up economic recovery and keep families afloat during the economic crisis.

Deputy Speaker Camille Villar and Negros Occidental Francisco Benitez filed House Resolution 1597 asking the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Civil Service Commission (CSC) and other state agencies and other government agencies to conduct a vigorous Balik Trabaho E-jobs and Online Job Fairs and similar virtual career platform activities geared toward assisting job seekers to resolve unemployment concerns and formulate short, mediumand long-term approaches and strategies to address the perennial dearth of opportunities in the country.

With the expected roll out of the government’s vaccination drive in the next few days and gradual reopening of the economy, the lawmakers said, a road map on employment, jobs and opportunities must be set in place, taking into consideration health protocols and government restriction on mass gatherings.

Villar said she believes the need for more virtual recruitment fairs is urgent in an effort to help displaced workers and everyone seeking jobs.

“The high-risk sectors with most displacements include manufacturing, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities, as well as arts, entertainment, and recreation,” she said.

“Various government agencies must innovate in generating job opportunities during the pandemic and health crisis,” Villar added, pointing out that there is an increasing demand for virtual career platforms resulting from the pandemic.

Villar said the Philippine unemployment rate soared to 10.4 percent last year, or about 4.5 million jobless Filipinos, the highest in 15 years, as thousands of establishments were forced to shut down amid quarantines and plummeting activity. At one point, 7.2 million Filipinos were jobless in April 2020, the height of the government-imposed lockdown to contain the virus, while many more workers and businesses saw their incomes collapse.

“Virtual career platforms assist job applicants in finding unique opportunities and job vacancies,” said Villar.

Over 21,000 jobs were available in an online job fair spearheaded by DOLE and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration with mynimo. com in December last year. A total of 600 domestic firms and 15 licensed recruitment agencies participated in the job fair.

The CSC, for its part, also held an online job fair in coordination with