Philippine Standard Time
2025 Research Papers
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A labor underutilization phenomenon called the “educated jobless” reveals that the youth are facing the highest incidence of unemployment in the Philippines. This trend highlights the importance of effective public employment services (PES) to facilitate employment and ensure productive transitions into the labor market. Job placement offices (JPOs) are partners of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) under DOLE Department Order No. 157 series of 2016 in providing PES for students and industry. This study provides pioneering insights into the role of JPOs in PES and showcases their contributions in addressing labor underutilization, particularly for the welfare of the youth. The study localizes the International Labour Organization’s five-clustered PES diagnostic and scans JPO operations in terms of 1) governance and strategy, 2) organization and management, 3) labor market services, 4) partnerships, and 5) performance management. Results show that JPOs deliver essential PES such as career development support, career guidance, job matching, and referral through industry linkages, labor market information, curriculum development, and even livelihood support. Challenges to JPOs’ consistent PES provision include underfunding, inadequate staffing and facilities, limited student and employer visibility, absence of standardized operational frameworks, and lack of formal institutionalization.
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The Philippine government recently introduced the Understudy Training Program (UTP) and Skills Development Program (SDP) through the amended Foreign Investment Act and Public Service Act to address the skills gap in the labor market and reduce long-term reliance on foreign labor. DOLE Department Order No. 248, series of 2025, further requires foreign nationals in specialized positions to train Filipino understudies in enterprises receiving fiscal incentives. However, its recent promulgation raises significant challenges in enterprise level implementation, regulatory monitoring, and program evaluation. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the paper highlights enterprise-level good practices across different industries, such as structured training programs, selection practices, and internal assessment mechanisms for technology or skills transfers. Comparative experiences from other countries further emphasize the importance of monitoring and evaluation processes and enterprise-level succession planning in sustaining long-term skills transfer. While challenges (e.g., limited monitoring and incoherent procedural systems across different regions) are evident, the findings suggest that UTP or SDP has strong potential to enhance the country’s human capital, provided that they are supported by robust institutional coordination mechanisms and aligned with strategic national development goals.
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The Philippines implemented policies to regulate the employment of foreign nationals to protect local labor. The incorporation of the Economic Needs Test (ENT) into the country’s foreign labor regulations serves as the latest attempt to add protective measures to preserve employment for Filipino workers. However, there is no definitive criterion for applying the ENT, nor a clear way to strike a balance between economic openness and the protection of the local workforce. This research analyzed how other countries implement ENT in their respective labor markets, assessed the potential risks and opportunities in implementing ENT, and recommended criteria and methods. It suggests that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, as each country must tailor its implementation to its labor market needs and economic priorities. ENT can guide the government and investors toward sectors where their expertise is most needed by identifying fundamental skills gaps and aligning foreign hiring with national priorities. However, if not well implemented with unclear criteria, risks discourage investment and possible concerns from the Philippines’ trading partners. Its impact will depend on how effectively it balances labor protection with ease of doing business. A well-crafted ENT has the potential to support both national employment objectives and the broader economic agenda with the following principles: (1) a tailored ENT approach and genuine social dialogue; (2) ease of doing business; and (3) ground decisions in data on labor shortages, growth sectors, and regional trade commitments.
Read more: Determining the Economic Needs Criteria: Risk, Impact, and Options