News Release (Draft)

Department of Labor and Employment

15 August 2014

Be job-ready with JobStart Philippines, Baldoz says to youth

"Full-cycle employment facilitation includes enhanced career assessment and

guidance, life skills training, technical skills training, and internship which are the
major building blocks in preparing young people for productive employment.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said this full-cycle

employment facilitation service is exactly what JobStart Philippines Program is
about; and thus reiterated her call for young jobseekers, ages 18-24, who are either
currently not working or has less than a year of work experience, not enrolled in an
educational or training program, or at least completed a high school education or
more, to avail of the programs benefits.

The JobStart Program is part of the Technical Assistance Program on Employment

Facilitation for Inclusive Growth (EFIG), a synergy between the DOLE, Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) that seeks to pave the way for necessary reforms needed to make the
countrys labor market more pragmatic, responsive, and attuned to the demands of
the global economy.

Arvin Yana, ADBs Communications Specialist for JobStart Program, reported that
as of press time a total of 3,377 young jobseekers vied for the 1,600 slots.

This number is distributed in the 4 pilot areas, as follows: General Trias, Cavite, 386
for 100 slots; Taguig, 1,204 for 240 slots; San Fernando, Pampanga, 852 for 360
slots; and Quezon City, 935 for 900 slots.

The targeted 1,600 youth will be randomly selected by the JobStart Project
Implementation Unit (PIU) consisting of ADB international and national consultants
and training officers, four of whom shall be deployed to the four pilot areas as
implementers, Yana explained.

He said, the program also involves employers as partners, who will have the
opportunity to hire JobStart beneficiaries as interns with life skills and with employerdetermined vocational training paid under the program; and reduced cost of
internship, as they will pay the interns only 75 percent of the minimum wage.

"Employers who will participate in the program will receive P9,000 training fee per
intern. They will also have the opportunity to demonstrate corporate social
responsibility in the communities where they operate," Yana added.

JobStarts objective is to raise the youth job placement rate to 80 percent from the
current 60-65 percent rate.

There are 1.456 million unemployed youth as of April 2014, according to the
Philippine Statistical Authoritys Labor Force Survey, accounting for 16 percent of the
total youth labor force of 9.254 million. The youth belong to the 15-24 age bracket.

Baldoz noted that youth unemployment, while it had decreased by 1.1 percent, or by
13,000from 16.8 percent in April 2013 to 15.7 percent in April 2014still accounts
for almost half, or 49.8 percent, of the countrys total unemployed placed at 2.924
million.

The fact remains that youth unemployment rate is more than double the national
unemployment rate and, therefore, this is a challenge we all need to address,
Baldoz said.

The JobStart Program is a pivotal step in improving the youth employment situation
in the country through the effective delivery of current labor market information,
employment services, skills-jobs matching mechanisms, and other job search
reforms, she added.

She said the Philippines needs not just the support of international agency-partners,
but also of local government units, especially the Public Employment Service
Offices, or PESOs, to make the program an effective delivery mechanism of the
governments array of employment services.

Convergence is what we need to solidify our efforts to contribute greatly to the

realization of the Aquino governments agenda of strengthening local employment

services, of solving the jobs-skills mismatch, and of pushing back unemployment.

Sustained commitment of our partners, both international and local, is needed so
that more students and jobseekers will be educated towards making wise and
excellent career decisions, Baldoz finally said.

END/hjtg