Marcos eyes 3M jobs by 2028

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said his administration was eyeing to create three million jobs for Filipinos by the end of his term.

The President made the statement as he graced the 2024 National Employment Summit in Manila to kick off the creation of the "Trabaho Para sa Bayan" (TPB) Plan.

In his speech, Marcos called on the labor sector to vigorously implement the plan for the TPB, a 10-year roadmap that will serve as the national guide towards greater employment generation and recovery.

"In line with our priorities, and the outcomes that we desire, and strategies stated in the Philippine Development Plan, the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan, the Strategic Investment Priority Plan, and the Workforce Development Plan, the TPB Plan will be one of the driving forces to help create at least three million new jobs by the year 2028," Marcos said.

"Beyond generating employment, what we want to achieve is creating quality jobs, with special emphasis on ensuring workers' welfare, empowerment, competitiveness, and security in all sectors of our labor sector," he added.

According to the June 6 Labor Force Survey (LFS), most statistics improved from April 2023 to 2024 with employment rate up from 95.50 percent to 96 percent, and employed individuals increasing from 48.06 million to 48.46 million.

On the other hand, the country's unemployment rate decreased from 4.50 percent to 4.00 percent. The number of unemployed individuals also went down from 2.26 million to 2.04 million, indicating that 220,000 individuals gained employment opportunities.

However, the LFS showed those underemployed increased by 1.70 percent, or 12.90 percent to 14.60 percent, while the labor force participation rate rose by 1.00 percent, or 65.10 percent to 64.10 percent.

Based on the Philippine Labor Market statistics, the service sector took up 61.40 percent of the labor industry, followed by the agricultural sector at 20.30 percent, while the remaining 18.30 percent went to the industry sector.

Marcos said the government has laid out various strategies to generate job opportunities for Filipinos, including the Philippine Development Plan, the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan, Strategic Investment Priority Plan, Workforce Development Plan, and the TPB plan.