Mindanao needs 5.2 M jobs in next four years

DAVAO CITY – Around 5.2 million jobs must be generated in Mindanao in the next four years with the growing number of Mindanawon graduates looking for employment annually, an official of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) said.

Reyzaldy B. Tan, MinDA’s director for Policy, Planning and Project Development Office, said it was challenging to generate enough employment for fresh graduates noting that only 19 percent of them could land jobs in the formal sector out of the 392,000 fresh graduates that the academic institutions produce annually in Mindanao.

He said some 46 percent of the graduates will find jobs in the informal sector in Mindanao. At least 16 percent would find opportunities overseas, 5 percent in the informal sector, and 8 percent in the formal sector in Luzon and Visayas.

Tan explained that those in the informal sector might have to start their own enterprises.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that employment rate in the country last October was at 94.9 percent.

Of the six regions in Mindanao, Northern Mindanao region had the highest employment rate at 96.9 percent; Soccsksargen, 96.4 percent; Davao Region and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), 96.2 percent; Zamboanga Peninsula, 96.1 percent; and Caraga, 96 percent.