Reducing Youth Unemployment

by Mark Edward V. Tayao

Unemployment among the youth in the Philippines is an outgrowth of limited access to education, from the year 2003 to 2004 it grew to a 1.2 percent change of unemployment rate, from the year 2004 to 2005 it grew again from 11.4 percent to 11.70 percent (Philippines Unemployment rate), according to Dr. Carolina Guerrero, director of the Bureau of Alternative Learning System. “We have what we call the Club 86. There is an average of 100 entrants in the first grade in the country, but out of these 100, only 14 will get a college degree. What happened to the other 86? They are all dropouts, part of Club 86,” she said. There is indeed structural unemployment in the country as indicated by the continuous increase in the number of unemployed, the number of graduates from degree and technical-vocational courses, and the number of job vacancies being posted in the newspapers, radio programs, and in the Internet It identifies the following factors that contribute to the mismatch: Philippine education and training institutions are plague with problems such as over-subscription of certain courses, particularly business courses, and under-subscription in certain priority courses; low survival/graduation rate; and low performance in licensure examinations; The tendency of the industrial sector to be selective in their hiring practices, which delimits the opportunities of most graduates in finding better careers that pay well; The prevalent practice among graduates to proceed to graduate school after college believing that no work is available anyway, which makes them a candidate for the pool of educated unemployed; and Underutilization of career guidance counseling, resulting to students’ deprivation on information regarding skills, courses or specialization required by industries, which consequently leads them to take courses considered as over-subscribed. But new initiatives in corporate social responsibility (CSR) aim to stop the numbers from growing.

One of these is an automotive training center funded by Isuzu Motors Limited Japan and another is Ashoka, a global group of social innovator. The Isuzu Motors Japan will finance the expansion of the center in Tacloban managed by the technical Education and skills Development Authority or also known as TESDA, to produce qualified technicians. For the Ashoka group they are starting to introduce the ‘alternative profession’ of social entrepreneurship to students.

According to Keiji Takeda, President of the Isuzu Philippines Corporation, their company will allot $3 million over a five-year span, help in shaping the curriculum and supply training equipment to the center. Isuzu Motors linked arms with Plan Philippines, a humanitarian organization for children, in establishing the center, which will be home to 80 deserving young men and women.

Scholars will be chosen from Plan-assisted communities in the country, which include Occidental Mindoro, Masbate, Samar, Southern Leyte and Camotes Island in Visayas. Plan Philippines and TESDA are yet to set the criteria for the selection of trainees, but primary consideration would be given to those from poor areas. Trainees will undertake a six-month program and graduate with a National Certification IV, the highest qualifying degree for vocational courses. While Isuzu Motors does not require the scholars to work for them after completing the program, Takeda said that the company would ‘definitely’ open its doors to them. On the other hand, Plan Philippines will also network with industry firms to ensure jobs for the center’s graduates.

When asked why they decided to focus their CSR on education, Takeda said that they conducted a survey among their employees and asked them what kind of help the Philippines needs. “The employees said that Filipinos should be given the opportunity to study so that they could have jobs. Isuzu Motors will give them that opportunity through the training center,” he explained.

Social entrepreneurship, which uses business skills in solving social problems, appears unattractive for young people who need money. But Steve Koon, professor of social entrepreneurship at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, pointed out in a recent forum that social entrepreneurs do not only get money, they also gain meaning and a sense of fulfillment in what they are doing.

Koon added that social entrepreneurs have a higher chance of sticking to their ‘work’ than 8-5 employees. “At the end of the day, it all boils down to happiness. Are you happy with what you are doing? More often than not, I will hear from corporate people that they are not. Why? It’s because money alone cannot make you happy,” he said.