COMPETITION for jobs will be tight in the next few years with workers displaced by the pandemic to be joined in the employment search by the first full batches of K to 12 graduates, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said.
In a briefing Thursday, Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique R. Tutay said the earliest K to 12 batches will be leaving school within the next few years, adding to the “pressure” of the job search.
She said 2021-2022 will be the “first full batch for K to 12,” following a number of transition years during which the graduating cohort was smaller than usual.
The department estimated Thursday that 3.8 million workers were displaced this year, including those who were retrenched, permanently or temporarily displaced and underemployed.
The DoLE said it expects conditions to improve with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout imminent, due to the improvement in “business confidence.”
Separately, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said minimum wages for domestic workers need to improve, and proposed a national minimum wage of P6,000 for such workers. By law, wages are set through regional wages and productivity boards and vary by region.
“I think it is reasonable to have P6,000,” he said.
He added that the wages given to household workers are too small and insufficient for those raising families. He added wages should be uniform regardless of the area. — Gillian M. Cortez