From the Department of Labor and Employment
Secretary of Labor and Employment Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz yesterday said the JobStart Philippines Program, a
joint project of the DOLE, Asian Development Bank, and Canadian
International Development Agency, will strengthen Public Employment
Service Offices (PESOs) to enable them to provide employment
facilitation services to clients, particularly to “at risk” youth.
“At risk” youth, according to the DOLE’s
Bureau of Local Employment (BLE), are young workers who have the least
access to productive work.
“The youth who are at risk take around
two to four years—a long time—to find their first wage jobs,” noted
Secretary Baldoz after she received a report from BLE Director Dominique
Tutay on the launch of the JobStart Philippines Program in Gen. Trias,
Cavite.
Gen. Trias is one of four pilot areas of
the $5.6 million JobStart Philippines Program, funded by a grant from
the ADB and the CIDA, and envisioned to benefit 1,600 at-risk Filipino
youth. The three other pilot areas are Quezon City, with 900
beneficiaries; San Fernando, Pampanga, 360 beneficiaries; and Taguig
City, Metro Manila, with 240 beneficiaries. In Gen. Trias, 100 at-risk
youth will benefit from the program. JobStart Philippines was launched
last month in San Fernando, Pampanga.
BLE’s Director Tutay said the program
will strengthen the PESOs in these areas, especially as they implement
“full-cycle” employment facilitation services, such as enhanced client
assessment, career guidance and employment coaching, LMI delivery, and
referral. “The program boils down to strengthening the employability of
the at-risk youth,” she said.
Secretary Baldoz said the JobStart
Philippines Program seeks to equip the youth with life skills and values
demanded by employers to improve their integration into productive
employment.
“It also aims to guide and coach them to
be knowledgeable on labor market information and on effective
strategies for their job-search,” she added.
The JobStart Philippines Program is part
of the Employment Facilitation for Inclusive Growth (EFIG) project of
the DOLE, ADB, and CIDA, which was launched on July 9, 2013, to
culminate in 2017. It seeks to strengthen the employability of young
Filipinos and assist policy makers and regulators arrive at better
employment solutions, decisions, and strategies towards sustained
employment opportunities and growth.
Under the program, the BLE, through its
Project Implementation Unit, will deploy a team of Training and
Internship Officers to the PESOs in the four pilot areas. The teams will
use a random experimental design to select qualified applicants who
will receive technical and life skills training and work experience.
Specifically, the selection criteria for these “at risk youth”
beneficiaries are as follows: (1) young adults who are 18-24 years of
age; (2) at least high school diploma holder; (3) not currently
enrolled in an education or training program; and (4) with less than a
year of work experience.
The DOLE will provide technical
assistance to develop tools for capturing and disseminating LMI about
jobs, skills in demand, and wages and benefits. It will produce three
manuals for the PESOs on how to assess job readiness; serve as a job
coach/adviser; and conduct a job search. Further, the DOLE will train
the local chief executives and PESO managers on the operation of a
full-cycle employment service office and on the use of LMI in career
guidance.
The local government unit in the pilot
area will provide the manpower—a PESO manager; a Career Guidance and
Employment Coaching (CGEC) officer; a placement or employment officer;
and an LMI officer on full-time basis.
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