170,000 jobs available during Labor Day fairs

Some 170,000 jobs, both local and overseas, are set to be offered to Filipinos in job fairs set to be held in at least 70 sites across the country during the Labor Day, a top official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Sunday.

According to Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma, the fairs will be joined by some 2,000 employers, and will be held in cooperation with mall operators across the country.

“Madadagdagan pa po ‘yan siguro, dahil meron pa tayong tatlong araw bago dumating ang selebrasyon ng Araw ng Paggawa (This can still be increased because we still have three more days before the celebration of the Labor Day),” he said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo DZBB.

“Inaanyayahan ko ang lahat ng atin pong mga jobseekers, ‘yung mga walang trabaho o kaya ay may trabaho na pero nais na matignan baka naman mayroong available na trabaho doon sa mga job fair sites na mag-aalok sa kanila ng mas magandang pwesto, mas magandang benepisyo,” he added.

(I am inviting all the jobseekers, those unemployed and those already employed but looking to check if the available jobs in the job fair sites would give better positions, better benefits.)

Laguesma said recent job fairs have recorded on-the-spot hires — more or less 100 in Malolos, Bulacan on Friday; 128 in Dagupan on Friday, and 170 in Pampanga.

Latest data available from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show there were 1.94 million Filipinos aged 15 and above unemployed in February. This is higher than the 1.80 million jobless in February 2024, but lower than the 2.16 million in January.

There were 49.15 million employed Filipinos during the month, equivalent to an employment rate of 96.2%. Out of the employed individuals, there were 4.86 million underemployed or those who expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work.—RF, GMA Integrated News