Colleges urged to set up labor market update centers

CHEd chairperson Patricia Licuanan. PHOTO FROM CHED.GOV.PH

MANILA, Philippines–The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) called on all colleges and universities to set up labor market information corners to help students find work after they graduate.

In a July 10 memorandum order, CHEd chair Patricia Licuanan said that the labor market information (LMI) corners must be installed in locations easily accessible to students inside the campuses.

The LMI corners must provide college students information specifically on “in-demand” and “hard-to-fill” jobs and industries.

Each LMI corner installed in a higher education institution (HEI) should contain materials from the Departments of Labor and Employment, Education, as well as Science and Technology, the Professional Regulation Commission, and the Technical Skills Development Authority.

In particular, the LMI corners must have DOLE regular and special publications on profitable occupations and industries, career guidance materials, data on available scholarship grants, and higher education priority courses.

“The LMI corner will inform HEI students about the government assistance they can access and guide them in deciding on what career path to take after college and what industries to enter once they get into the labor force,” Licuanan explained.

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Labor Force Survey, excluding Leyte Province, the unemployment rate as of April this year was at 7 percent while the underemployment rate was estimated at 18.2 percent accounting for 7.030 million people. The rates are lower compared to the 7.6 percent unemployment and 19.2 percent underemployment rates in April, 2013.

Leyte was excluded in the survey because of the large number of households affected by typhoon Yolanda.

Among the 2.9 million unemployed, majority of whom were males, 22.4 percent were college graduates, 14.5 percent were undergraduates, and 32.7 percent were high school graduates.

Based on the PSA definition, the unemployed include persons who are 15 years old and above and are without work, though available for employment, but are looking for a job. They also include those who are employable but are not seeking work because they are: tired or believe that no job is available; waiting for results in their job applications or to be rehired; suffering from temporary illness or disability; and prevented by bad weather.