THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the 1-million-job target set by the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) has been achieved.
“Based on the last report that I got, I know that we have reached already the 1-million-job (goal) that was set as the NERS target. Because in the last meeting, we were close to that. My recollection is about 980,000 jobs already created,” Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said during the 2022 Task Group on Economic Recovery-NERS Labor Day Job Summit on Sunday.
“The bulk of which (was generated by) the construction and IT-BPM sectors and now the recovering tourism and the restaurant sectors as we reopening those particular industries,” he added.
According to Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) President Sergio Ortiz-Luis, Jr., the goal of one million jobs under the “Reform, Rebound, Recover: One Million Jobs for 2021” program was reached by the first quarter of this year.
“I am proud to report that through this program, over 600,000 jobs were provided by the end of 2021, and the goal of the 1 million jobs was reached by the 1st quarter of this year,” Mr. Ortiz-Luis said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the NERS task force has assisted many individuals and establishments since the NERS’s employment agenda was issued in June last year.
“A year since we unveiled our eight-point employment agenda, we are very happy to report that our combined efforts in the NERS task force yielded assistance to more than 6.5 million individual beneficiaries, and more than 270,000 establishments in the form of employment facilitation, training, and livelihood, among others,” Mr. Bello said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ortiz-Luis said that ECOP, along with other private sector groups and member government agencies of the NERS task force, renewed their commitment to create more quality employment.
He added that the project will now be called “Beyond One Million Jobs: Create. Sustain. Transform.”
The private sector groups involved in the project include the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc., the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, Philippine Constructors Association, Inc., Philippine Hotel Owners Association, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc., IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines, and the Philippine Association of Legitimate Service Contractors. Their government partners are the DTI, the Department of Labor and Employment, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
NERS was created during the pandemic to help the labor market recover. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
