Concern over 7 million underemployed workers in the Philippines

The Philippines’ Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) aired its concern over 7 million workers who were underemployed, defined as those in part-time roles who were looking for longer working hours or higher-paying jobs.

October’s underemployment rate, at 16.1%, was the highest in three months. “The increase of the underemployment level by 862,000 is a reminder that much has still to be done to improve the quality of work,” DOLE said. 

However, the nation’s unemployment rate declined to a three-month low of 7.4% in October, as the economic situation improved due to the reopening of more business establishments, which in turn generated more jobs, according to Inquirer.net. 

In October, there were 43.8 million Filipinos who were employed in October, representing 92.6% of the 47.3 million Filipinos aged 15 and above who were either employed or unemployed.

READ: Job-creation programme addresses unemployment in the Philippines

“Better employment outcomes in October were driven by the government’s policies that further reopened the economy safely, such as shifting to the alert level system and granular lockdowns from large-area and blanket quarantines and allowing more mobility for vaccinated individuals,” said a statement by the Department of Budget and Management Officer in Charge Tina Rose Marie Canda, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.