The world of work is constantly evolving because jobs are created and destroyed, a process that is increasingly becoming conspicuous due to significant technological advances, notably in ICT and computing. Invariably, poor national skills profiles hurt the economy, impede the efficient and timely accumulation of advanced or highly technical skills, and potentially degrade job mobility and wage growth. Thus, understanding the structure of the labor market in the context of occupational skills is essential. This paper provides a skills-based characterization of the labor market and assesses how skills are distributed across the working population, emphasizing key gender differences, and highlighting spatial disparities. It also explains the observed gender pay gap using skills-augmented Mincerian regression models and the 2015 Labor Force Survey. [...].
The Filipino economy has experienced overall growth over the last 20 years, but the growth of the manufacturing sector has been sluggish, and the country has lost innovation capacity. Regaining momentum will depend on many factors, but skills have a key role to play in supporting the growing service sector, improving the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, and enhancing the long-term ability of the country to innovate and adapt and assimilate new technologies. 'Skills for the Labor Market in the Philippines' analyzes the functional skills with which workers need to be equipped to be employable and support firms competitiveness and productivity, and evaluates the role of the education and training system in providing these skills. Based on an innovative survey of employers, this book is the most comprehensive attempt thus far to review the skills that matter for the labor market. The book reveals that a dramatic increase in educational attainment occurred in just under two decades in the Philippines. However, in light of the growing demand for skills, the authors also make it clear that there are indications of emerging skills gaps, suggesting that skills are becoming a constraining factor for economic growth. The authors flesh out several policy implications, which should provide a valuable contribution to improving the country s education and training system. The book is primarily intended for the policy makers and researchers who shape the delivery of education and training in the Philippines and other middle-income countries.
This study presents evidence on the role of socioemotional skills in the Philippine labor market. The analysis reveals that two-thirds of employers report difficult finding workers with adequate work ethics, interpersonal and communications skills; and that they are associated with higher daily earnings and employment.
While the Philippines has achieved remarkable progress in raising the education level of its labor force, the standard proxy for educational attainment—years of formal schooling—is increasingly inadequate as a measure of workforce skills. About one-third of employers report being unable to fill vacancies due to lack of applicants with the requisite skills. Most of these “missing skills†? are socioemotional skills,†? also known as “non-cognitive skills†?, “soft skills†? or “behavioral skills.†? Emerging international evidence suggests that socioemotional skills are increasingly crucial to the types of jobs being created by the global economy. The following study presents new evidence from employer and household surveys on the role of socioemotional skills in the Philippine labor market. The analysis reveals that: • Two-thirds of employers report difficulty in finding workers with adequate work ethics or appropriate interpersonal and communications skills. Firm-based training increasingly focuses on socioemotional skills. • The more educated and employed workers tend to score higher on measures of grit, decision-making, agreeableness, and extroversion. • Socioemotional skills are associated with an increase in average daily earnings, in particular for women, young workers, less-educated workers, and those employed in the service sector. • Higher levels of socioemotional skills are also correlated with a greater probability of being employed, having completed secondary education, and pursuing tertiary education. Studies suggest that primary school is the optimal age for shaping socioemotional skills, but the Philippines’ elementary education curriculum devotes limited resources to their development. Schools continue to be judged solely by students’ performance in cognitive achievement tests, but not on soft-skills competencies, and teachers are not appropriately trained to foster the development of them. Finally, interventions targeting workers entering the labor force can also effectively bolster their socioemotional skills, complementing effects to improve labor-market information and vocational counseling.
This report analyzes gender equality in the labor market and related policies and legislation in the Philippines, and concludes with recommendations to promote gender equality. Key mechanisms for attaining inclusive growth for women requires expanding employment opportunities and decent work outcomes for women to promote gender equality in labor markets. Economic growth in the Philippines, however, has not translated into sufficient employment growth and the employment growth has not been inclusive for women. Generally speaking, there has been little improvement in gender equality in the labor market, as measured by the share of women in waged employment in the nonagriculture sector. In the Philippines, the estimated proportion of women's annual earnings to men's annual earnings stands at less than 60%. However, employment growth alone is not sufficient to judge whether there is inclusive growth, especially in low-income countries where there is significant underemployment and a large informal employment sector. Gender inequality in the labor market is ascertained here by reference to seven gender gaps (or deficits for women): labor force participation, human capital, the unpaid domestic and care work burden, vulnerable employment, wage employment, decent work, and social protection. Despite a variety of gender-responsive legal and policy initiatives, an assessment of the labor market in the Philippines reveals that although some gender gaps have been reduced, women still suffer from persistent gender deficits.
This paper examines the role of the labor market in the transmission process of adjustment policies in developing countries. It begins by reviewing the recent evidence regarding the functioning of these markets. It then studies the implications of wage inertia, nominal contracts, labor market segmentation, and impediments to labor mobility for stabilization policies. The effect of labor market reforms on economic flexibility and the channels through which labor market imperfections alter the effects of structural adjustment measures are discussed next. The last part of the paper identifies a variety of issues that may require further investigation, such as the link between changes in relative wages and the distributional effects of adjustment policies.
