Millions of grads. No jobs up for grabs

Retail sale of wearing apparel— except footwear—had the highest number of establishments (8,095 or 8.2 percent of the total); followed by establishments in retail sale of drugs and pharmaceutical goods (6,475 or 6.6 percent).

From land to shining sea

Where the jobs are in regions

Davao establishments employed the most with 41,608, followed by the Negros island region with 28,720. Northern Mindanao came in third with 17,670 workers.

Theoretically, the jobs in retail sales and in the agriculture, fishing, forestry sectors do not require completion of the K to12 program. In real life, employers have the luxury of requiring applicants to have at least a high school diploma. Those with college degrees or at least two years of college education are preferred.

Since a substantial number of job opportunities overseas ( particularly for construction workers and laborers) in the Middle East place emphasis on skills rather than academic preparation, it is no wonder that 6,092 Filipinos leave daily for overseas jobs, according to POEA data obtained by Migrante International. That was in 2015.

In 2017, “employment creation remains a challenge as there were around 663,243 net employment losses,” NEDA observed.

K to 12 graduates, this year and beyond?