MANILA, Philippines?The labor department has started a survey of employment drivers for the next decade to arm students with better skills in order to curb unemployment and job mismatch, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), according to Roque, will sit down with the academe and industry representatives next month to draft Project Jobs Fit, which aims to address the perennial problem of jobs and skills mismatch, unemployment, and underemployment.

Roque said he ordered regional labor offices to look into the key employment drivers in their areas in the next 10 years.

The regional officials are scheduled to submit their findings to Roque by yearend.

?With the Jobs Fit, students and other future job seekers would be guided on what college course or skills training to take to immediately land in industry job upon graduation, thereby, addressing in large measure youth unemployment,? Roque said.

Roque said the Jobs Fit project should reduce the country?s unemployment and underemployment rate by 2020.

The program could be used by the education sector and other stakeholders in the development of curricula and career materials.

It could also serve as a guideline in the provision of training and educational scholarships aimed at meeting the skills requirements of industry.

The Jobs Fit study is also expected to benefit the business community as it would provide them with workers who have backgrounds and skills needed in the industry.

?That is why the Jobs Fit road map is important as it would help the country meet the expected skills requirements of foreign capital,? he said, adding ?it will ultimately help address at the same time the unemployment problem.?

DOLE identified the agricultural, energy, tourism, and infrastructure sectors as areas that investors are keen about.

Roque said the investments would likely generate hundreds of thousands of direct employment. These sectors would also generate indirect employment in the services industry.