CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — Some 98,460 job seekers in Central Luzon were given either local or overseas employment in the first seven months of this year through the various programs of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in partnership with the Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) in the region.
The figure represents an astonishing placement rate of almost 100 percent for 98,463 referred applicants.
DOLE Technical Support and Services Division for Employment and Welfare head Alejandro Inza Cruz said the high placement rate can be attributed to more employment opportunities, such as job fairs that were initiated and undertaken by the PESOs to ensure that more job hunters are employed.
“The DOLE and PESO tandem has set another milestone in providing for more employment opportunities to ensure more job seekers land decent jobs,” Inza Cruz said during the two-day PESO mid-year performance assessment held at the Harvest Hotel here Thursday.
He said the employment facilitation activity initiated by the DOLE and PESOs include the conduct of 53 job fairs in provinces, cities, and municipalities across Central Luzon.
Of the 53 job fairs, Inza Cruz said that about six region-wide job fairs were facilitated in observance of the Labor Day and Independence Day festivities.
He also said that all national and local job fairs adopted the Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan (TNK) Concept forged by the DOLE and the Department of Trade and Industry.
Labor Statistician Andre Josef Bustos, meanwhile, disclosed that several employment programs were implemented to boost employment opportunities and learning experiences for the region’s working youths.
These include the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES), wherein some 22,312 poor but deserving students were provided short-term employment opportunities.
Bustos also said that some 699 youth beneficiaries comprising college graduates/undergraduates, tech-voch, and high school graduates were engaged in government work under the DOLE Government Internship Program (GIP).
On livelihood provision, he said some 2,712 marginalized individuals comprising ambulant vendors, parents, farmers, women, youths, and persons with disabilities were provided livelihood assistance/projects amounting to PHP27.32 million.
DOLE 3 (Central Luzon) Director Zenaida Angara-Campita thanked the PESOs for their valuable contribution.
“I would like to commend and thank each and every one of you for your dedication to ensure that we enable more people to have jobs or livelihood projects. Rest assured that we will continue to provide our support and assistance in achieving our goals,” she said. (Marilyn Galang/PNA)
