MANILA — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) seeks to expedite the training of more construction workers.
This, after DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III revealed that there is a shortage of construction workers particularly masons, plumbers, welders, electricians, etc.
“We have been getting complaints. They don’t want them to be allowed to leave the country anymore. I just said what can we do?” he said in an interview at the department’s Job and Business Fair in Pasay City on Monday.
“We identify the employment available so that we will know where to concentrate the training that will be done by TESDA,” the DOLE chief added.
He noted that the main reason of the dwindling number of workers in the construction sector is because they are looking for overseas employment.
Another factor is the job-skill mismatch in the country.
“Often times, our problem is the mismatch. The profile of the job opening is not matched with the applicant’s profile,” he explained.
The Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) reported that there is an estimated 150,000 shortage in construction workers in the country in 2017, and another 300,000 this year.
Meanwhile, a total of 136 out of the 2,755 applicants were hired-on-the-spot (HOTS) for local employment, in the one-day fair, as of 4 p.m Monday.
The DOLE also reported that a total of 5,738 applicants were “near-hires”, including 5,015 for local jobs and 723 for overseas jobs.
The “near-hires” are applicants who are considered hired but still need to submit additional requirements, or who may need to attend further interviews or tests. (PNA)
