MANILA, Philippines — Sixty nine percent of Filipinos find it tough to look for a job these days, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The survey conducted from March 26 to 29 – with results released on Thursday – showed that only 11 percent of 1,200 Filipino respondents find the job hunt easy.
Around 16 percent see it as neither easy nor hard, while four percent of respondents said they don’t know.
According to SWS, looking for a job has always been difficult since 2011.
The SWS noted, however that 50 percent of Filipinos believe there will be more job opportunities available in the next 12 months.
Only 10 percent think there would be less jobs available , while 26 percent say they expect no changes, and the other 14 percent don’t know.
“Since 2009, except during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Filipinos have been more optimistic about job availability,” SWS said.
The SWS earlier said unemployment among Filipino adults dipped from 9.6 million in December 2022 to 8.7 million in March 2023.
This, however, is still a far cry from 7.9 million jobless Filipinos in December 2019.