Holiday spending boosts retail industry, job prospects–DOLE

Because of strong holiday spending, the domestic retail industry is also showing strength, which means temporary holiday-season employment opportunities for jobseekers, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

With more people shopping during the holidays, factories, malls and other business establishments need hundreds of workers for temporary or seasonal jobs, such as sales clerks, cashiers, service crews, salesmen and salesladies, and even gift wrappers and delivery workers, said Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

These jobs are among the top 20 vacancies listed at the PhilJobnet (www.philjob.net), the official job portal of the government on the Internet, with sales clerks landing on the top spot with the highest number of vacancies at 8,991.

PhilJobnet is an Internet-based job and applicant matching system which aims to fast-track a jobseeker’s search for a job and the employer’s search for manpower.

“Workers who are in need of temporary jobs can browse the PhilJobnet where they can find a lot of vacancies this holiday season. A temporary opportunity can be a great resume builder. It can teach new skills and provide networking opportunities. Plus, it can be a step to a fulltime, permanent position,” Baldoz said.

“Although a holiday-season job could end in January, the experience one gets from a temporary job can open the door when a new opportunity arises in the future,” she added.

According to the PhilJobnet data, there is demand for call center agents, with 8,022 vacancies; product specialists,  6,370 vacancies; financial/accounts specialists, 5,060 vacancies; and financial analysts (government) and telephone salespersons, 5,000 vacancies.

Service crew, 4,631 vacancies; salesperson, 4,447 vacancies; technical support staff, 3,905 vacancies; cashier, 3,745 vacancies; and customer relations officer, 3,158 vacancies.

Businesses also show high demand for production workers/factory workers, salespersons, sales analysts, technical salesperson and real estate brokers; merchandisers, sales officers, domestic helpers, sales executives, promo salespersons, and customs representatives.

As of Dec. 15, the PhilJobnet has a total of 131,847 registered job applicants; 151,990 vacancies; and 8,305 skills for hire.

The Bureau of Labor and Employment is enhancing the PhilJobnet system to make it a virtual one-stop shop for jobseekers.