Institute for Labor Studies Executive Director Jeanette T. Damo is among the discussants at the forum, “Bridging the Skills Gap: Insights and Strategies for the Evolving Philippine Labor Market,” organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies on October 17, 2024, via Zoom online platform.

The study titled “Inputs to the Philippine Labor Market Information System (LMIS) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) Skills Anticipation and Prioritization of Skills Requirements Framework (SAPSR)” was presented by PIDS Senior Research Fellow Dr. Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy. The study aimed to address the broader issue of skills mismatch, focusing on an efficient Labor Market Information System (LMIS) that can forecast and meet the skills requirements of the economy. The study emphasized the need for data collection, partnerships, and institutional arrangements in developing a robust system to align education outputs with the needs of the labor market.

As a discussant of the study, Executive Director Damo commended the key findings of the study as it affirmed several key priorities outlined in the Philippine Labor and Employment Plan 2023-2028, which emphasized the importance of a shared labor market governance and the establishment of an effective and efficient LMIS.

Moreover, she shared the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) strategies for the author’s consideration including collaboration, institutional arrangements, and partnerships through Industry Tripartite Councils, TESDA’s Industry Boards, and the establishment of sectoral skills councils especially in analytics and artificial intelligence, healthcare, semiconductor, electronics, and agricultural processing. Some of the best practices she mentioned included the government’s partnership with Digital Labor Market Intermediaries and tapping into the Program Convergence Budgeting for Livelihood and Employment Program as an inter-agency approach to coordinate government resources to achieve priority livelihood programs.

Another study on “Labor Market Structures, Pay Gap, and Skills in the Philippines” was presented by Dr. Lawrence B. Dacuycuy, professor and university fellow at Dela Salle University. Also present in the forum were PIDS Vice President Dr. Marife M. Ballesteros, TESDA Planning Office Executive Director Charlyn B. Justimbaste, and Dr. Emily Christi A. Cabegin, of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations.

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