Episode 2- Unemployment in the Philippines: Hard Truths and Realities

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Philippe: Pag -usapan natin, um, unemployment rate. So, what is our unemployment rate in the year 2025?

Gab: In the year 2025, uh, approximately 1 .63 million Filipinos are unemployed.

Philippe: I think that’s about, last year was 3%

Gab: Yes, 3%.

Philippe: 3 .1?

Gab: Tama. 3 .1.

Philippe: Thank you. So I think it’s still the same at 3 .1 this year. I don’t think may stats pa na maayos kasi our year just started. But for 2024, I believe it’s, uh, um, 3 .1.

Gab: So may trend siya, I think, na from the last three months of last year, October, November, December, it decreased.It slightly decreased. The unemployment rate. So, yeah.

Philippe: Usually, um, Ber months. October, November, December. Usually, these, these Ber months. Uh, see, include that in September and all that. They would hire, they would hire prior to Ber months. Kasi, during Ber months, Christmas season, ang daming companies kailan, they need the extra hand for the Christmas season. So, that’s one, that’s one reason why mawababa yung unemployment rate. But, Karamihan sa mga nag -a -apply for those ber months are project -based. So after Christmas, sorry, specifically after New Year’s, wala na sila. Finished contracting sila. And that’s the, that’s my point of project -based. So pagpasok nila ng 2025, unemployed na naman sila. So our unemployment rate, yung 3 .1%, yung 1 percent na yan, yung 0 .1, yan yung gumalago up. 0 .125, 0 .115, gumagano up and down. But we’re still at 3%, which is the lowest daw, um, ever since. Right? That’s good news. That’s good news. Um, problem is we don’t feel it. We don’t feel the effects, right? Bakit kamo? I ask a lot of people, wala silang trabaho. Gracias ang trabaho, right? We all know that, uh, part of our advocacy at APX, right? Is, uh, we create jobs, right? In the form of job fairs. We bring jobs to the barangays. We bring jobs to the city. And, uh, to places where it’s hard to reach, right? Pero ang daming unemployed. Ba’t kaya? What do you think?

Gab: The first reason, ang daming tao talaga sa Pilipinas. Or, there’s a population growth. It increases ng, like, maybe in a steady pace. Pero at the same time, nawawalan na ng jobs for everyone. So, it leads to higher unemployment rates.

Philippe: You know, way back, you were probably still a baby, but way back when I was a kid, there was, uh, one of my dad’s friends, I mean, yeah, look at all these. Informal settlers sa disperse areas. Grabe. Parang silang, ano, children factory. One family, six, uh, six to ten, right?

Gab: That’s a lot, yeah.

Philippe: Matagal na to. So, with the increase of population, galing sa kanila yun. From years back. So ngayon, yung mga unemployed, yung mga nag -anong trabaho, that was the, uh… That was the result of before. Diba? So yung mga six to ten na mga anak, sila na ngayon yung nakaharap na trabaho. So with the increase of population, yes. I think that’s one of the reasons. But what else? What else is another reason?

Gab: I think another is educational attainment. Maybe there are companies na have these certain positions. na it’s not applicable for this kind of individual who only did this, or did that, or parang basically hindi sila match.

Philippe: So skills? Yes, skills. Ah, so mismatch sa skills. Okay, that’s one, that’s one. Um, yeah, I believe so, I believe so. Um, skills is important, right? So is that, is that… Saan nang galing problema? Is it dahil hindi na na -aaral to yung mga skills na to na in school? Or nagbago na yung mga requirements ng mga companies in terms of skills? But I don’t think so. I don’t think nagbago. Same lang sya eh. So where did the problem come from?

Gab: Maybe it came from the system.

Philippe: Or back in square one, blaming the government. I want to look at it in a different point of view. Uh, something that’s At the level of, uh, these unemployed people, because we’ve been exposed to people who are unemployed, and I’ve talked to a lot of them, right? One sector of the unemployment, uh, sorry, one area of the unemployment sector are either retired OFWs, seniors, old -timers, old -timers ang tawag nila ng mga, kung anong tawag nila ng mga companies, old -timers nila, kasi they are, Fifty pataas. Sad to say, kahit sabihin natin batas na there shouldn’t be any discrimination with age. There is. And we can’t blame these companies na meron. Andami sa population na matatanda na unemployed na gusto magtrabaho. But they can’t. Because companies wouldn’t want to hire them. Matanda na. I believe another reason because I’ve been around unemployed people and been talking to them a lot is that Apart from skills and age and all that, yung iba, especially the young, the young ones, right? They see a lot of, they see a lot of things on social media that convinces, convinces them that they could either do business or they could do a certain type of racket. Or, here’s the best one. Feeling nila, Pag naging vlogger sila, kikita na sila. Kaya ayaw nila mag -apply. So they’re part of the sector of being unemployed. And sad to say, there’s not only hundreds, but there are 100 ,000s, especially of the young ones. Nakakita nila, oh, vlogger na siya. May motovlogger. They think that if they dedicate… Or actually, wala nga dedication. Basa, sa phone lang, nag -vlog na sila and they start doing videos and content and everything.

Listen, content creation is great, pero kung basura yung content mo, wala mangyayari. Right? And also, and also, the only reason why these other vloggers and these content creators are up there is because they give value back. It doesn’t matter what kind of value, whether it’s, uh, It’s uh, the cheap kind of value, or the expensive kind of value, or it’s a life lessons. But, if they give value to you and you spend so much time watching them, that’s how they earn. Right. So, uh, we’re talking about, I’m, I’m talking about, especially in the Class C below.

All right? So, I think, there’s a lot of influence out there. If only people would spread out, Good influence for Tongay Vot. Good influence like spread, still spread around, influence people to do hard work, do smart work, and do work for the right reasons. So marami yung nagtatrabaho, I need to feed my family. May sakit yung nanay ko. Ay, may sakit yung daddy. Ay, may sakit yung anak ko. Diba? Para sa anak ko to. Para sa ano. Sadly, not everyone’s like this. Yung iba, tamad lang. So they are the 3 .1. Okay, part of that sector is the 3 .1. So we have the age, we have skill -related, we have um, the lifestyle, the influence and all this. And I think if the only way that we can turn this around, especially the area where people think they could be online content creators, they should find, they should, you know, if you can’t, if you can’t earn yet, find a job. Whatever it is, don’t be choosy. Yun nga.

Another sector, choosy lang sila. Choosy sila, kasi napapanood nila na, ah, dito, comfortable ka. Ah, dito, sa ganitong trabaho, wala kang iniisip, nakikita ng malaki. Pag sila nang gumagawa, wala. Baliktad. Right? Good example, mga freelancers, di ba, nago -online work, sabi, oh, ang sarap paging virtual assistant. Masarap talaga. Sa bahay lang, wala sa traffic, wala sa… What people don’t see is that meron siyang commitment, meron siyang investment. Yes, toto. And when I say investment, hindi lang yan investment pera. Ano sinasabi ko investment? Skills. Naga -up skills sila. Pero siyempre kailangan din pera para mag -invest sa equipment. Kailangan ng computer, kailangan ng internet, kailangan ng magandang mic, magandang headset. Diba? Pero number one dyan, pag meron ka doon pero walang skills, wala rin. So, find a place, find a sweet spot kung saan ka magaling based sa skills mo ngayon, doon ka. Kung mahirap yung trabaho, lahat ng trabaho mahirap. Sa tingin mo negosyo madali, lahat ng negosyo mahirap. So hindi siya kataneng. So, yan, sa mga choosy sa work, huwag kayong masyading choosy, diba? Kung hindi, mag -gutong kayo, diba? Lalo din sa pagkain. Kung choosy ka sa pagkain, diba? Allergic ka sa mumurahin ng pagkain, ah, huwag ka, diba? Umasa ka na lang sa mga magulang mo. Ekomoladyan silang trabaho. Good luck. So don’t be choosy. Kung talagang no choice ka, magtrabaho ka, kahit kargador ka, kahit sa construction ka. I’m not saying masama yung construction, malaki yung bahay sa construction.

Yun lang, it’s not for everyone. Diba? Um, ayun. And once na nakuha ko ng trabaho, please, alagaan niyo yung trabaho niyo, mahalin niyo yung trabaho niyo, kahit hindi, hindi, kahit mahirap. Diba? To the point na pag tsatsagain niyo yung trabaho, diba, malay mo, at after that, maahalag ka na mas okay, diba? Diba dun ka?

Ipunin niyo yung experience, kasi walang experience, start from zero again. Do you have any advice to our Gen Z’s? For this type of work? Marami lang yung Gen Z’s na walang work. Kasi yung mga nakausap ko, hindi Gen Z’s, medyo mas matanda na.

Gab: Uh, yeah. Uh, well, for Gen Z’s naman, there’s different kinds of classifications for Gen Z’s. There’s the ones who actually… So work hard para doon sa gusto nilang gawin. Doon sa mga nasa gitna is nagsasama yung what their parents give and what their hard work can do. And then yung last is mga ano talaga, nakaasa lang talaga sa parents.

Philippe: Para yung mga dinescribe mo ng genzis, puro mga entitled ng mga ito.

Gab: Depending on kung ano classification ka. To another classification. Kasi, in… As a Gen Z, or in school, or in… In an internship, may mga kasabay ka na ano. There are people talaga na who has this, who doesn’t have this. Or mayroon sila nito dahil doon sa kinikita nila, at at the same time ibigay na mong ulog nila. So I think the best thing na, best, um, tip, na as a Gen Z can give dun sa parang who experienced somehow those classifications na kahit katiting lang was or is, um, do those things for you. Kasi at the end of the day, no one’s gonna be there for you, no one’s gonna support you, no one’s gonna love you more than someone else or something. It’s always going to be you. So, uh, when you do, na, be the man, or, sorry for the, for the… word, pero be the man na you want your father who, iyong father mo na magiging proud sa Be the man na your mom can be proud of you. Be the, be the student na ikaw yung pinag -aaral ng parents mo. Be the, be the, be the son. Basically, be that man who, who, who hard works para sa sarili mo. And then everything else, it’s gonna fall into place. So, as a Gen Z, that’s, that’s somehow a tip I can give for, yeah.

Philippe: I have a question for you. Have you ever met, like, a Gen Z who’s an actual parent?

Gab: Yes, I have. Na malaki na yung anak nila, one year, two years old. Yes, I have.

Philippe: What’s their situation? Are they working? I mean, generally speaking.

Gab: At first, it was surprising. But then, knowing them, getting to know them more, I actually have a friend, or friends, who has kids already. Basically, mas masarap pa sila kasama, honestly. Basically, mabas -mabait sila. They’re, they’re doing well. Both of them, both of the parents are still together and at the same time, they’re, ano, um, creating businesses.

Philippe: So may skill set sila?

Gab: May skill set sila. So, nagaano pa rin sila, nagtatrabaho pa rin sila. Pero bago sila nagkaroon ng ano, ano, were they skillful na o ano lang, inaaral lang talaga nalang during pregnancy or during, yan? I think pareho, pareho. There, there, I know someone who just learned it before, they were ano, so they have this certain skill set na alam na nila and then they just improved it. And then there’s another one who, um, just basically, alam nyo na kailangan niya mag -provide eh. So once na nag -click in yun sa kanya, nag -sync in yun sa kanya, ah, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to study this, I have to do this.

Philippe: So, yeah. Interesting, interesting. Yeah, I guess. Sila ang current generation that needs to change the world, right? Sino yung next, mga Gen Alpha? Oh, maliliit pa sila. It would be something different. Sila yung magiging sakit ang ulo niyo, mga Gen Alpha. Well, I believe that’s all for this topic. Thank you for your tips and all that.

Sa mga walang trabaho ngayon, abangan nyo na yung mga job fairs namin na sooner or later. I think, ano ba ngayon? We’re in Feb, right? Oh, Febibig. Happy Valentine’s Day. Siguro may March tayo. May March tayo. We’re gonna, we’re gonna set up a job fair. Sometime mid or third week of March. One reason for that is because, uh, siyempre busy yung mga, yung mga politician.

So, I’m going to be doing this solo. We’re not going to have any partners, politicians. Uh, they’re all busy with, uh, the election. So, yan. So, abangan nyo nalang yan. And then, uh, yeah, we’ll see you there. Hopefully, mababa natin yung ano. Ay, zero, no? 3 .0. Okay, yan. Yeah, whatever help you guys need. Follow us, subscribe, and uh, shit, yeah.

Don’t shit on yourself.