The highest numbers of job openings in Metro Manila last year were for cashiers, sales personnel and accountants, with lawyers entering the top-10 list for the first time.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), vacancies for cashiers and ticket clerks topped the list of job vacancies last year, averaging 11,239 in every quarter and accounting for 13 percent of total available jobs.
The figures are culled from results of the four quarterly polls, the Labor Turnover Survey, which covered 921 respondents representing large establishments drawn from the PSA’s 2013 List of Enterprises.
Highest in 4th quarter
“Large enterprises in Metro Manila reported a quarterly average of 87,850 job openings in various types of occupations and skills in 2014,” the agency said in the report.
Job vacancies were highest at 98,563 during the fourth quarter, “in anticipation of the holiday sales,” it added.
The PSA explained that in counting available jobs, some vacancies remained unfilled during a quarter and the number was carried over to the succeeding quarters.
No. 2 in the PSA’s list of top 10 hot jobs of 2014 was for shop salespersons and product demonstrators, pegged at a quarterly average of 4,789 or 5.5 percent of total.
“[This category] was in the top 10 in all but the third quarter,” the PSA said.
Third were jobs for accounting and bookkeeping clerks, counting at 4,313 or 4.9 percent of total.
Fourth were “other business professionals,” which include technical and administrative staff, averaging 4,194 or 4.8 percent.
The demand for lawyers also revved up. “The new entry in the (top 10) list is that of lawyers, posting an average of 4,056 or 4.6 percent of job openings,” the PSA said. “It solidified its place after topping the list in the first quarter and placing fifth in the fourth
quarter.”
Ranked sixth were jobs for technical and commercial sales representatives (3,995 or 4.5 percent) and seventh were jobs for receptionists and information clerks (3,637 or 4.1 percent).
BPOs prove longevity
Business process outsourcing (BPO) —which the PSA continued to regard as an emerging or “sunshine” industry—“continues to prove its longevity” as job openings for customer service representatives placed eighth with a quarterly average of 2,504 or 2.9 percent of total.
Rounding up the top 10 were jobs for “other office clerks (2,317 or 2.6 percent) at ninth, and protective services workers such firefighters, police, correctional officers, security guards and private detectives (2,117 or 2.4 percent) at tenth.
In 2014, the Philippines’ domestic economy grew by 6.1 percent, slowing from the 7.1 percent seen in 2013.
Last year, output from wholesale trade grew by 8 percent, more than twice as fast the 3.4 percent recorded in 2013.
On the other hand, growth in retail trade slowed to 5.1 percent in 2014 from 6.8 percent previously.