1.1 million workers hired in 2011 thru PESO network

The country’s network of Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) helped 1,108,908 workers find jobs in the country in 2011–most of them in wage employment, according to a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) press release.

“We credit the effective work of our 1,069 PESOs in all 16 regions of the country in elevating to positive the employment performance of the economy in 2011,” labor chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said. A report from the Bureau of Local Employment showed that the number of PESO-placed job seekers constitute 76% of the 1,456,926 referred for job placement from January-December 2011.

Baldoz said one of the DOLE’s thrusts for 2012 is to strengthen further the country’s PESO network to place 1.2 million applicants.

“The 1,108,908 placed during the year represent a 20.3% growth, or 225,595 more job placements, compared to the 883,313 the PESO network placed in 2010. Of the total number of workers placed, almost two-thirds (62.05%, or 688,147) found jobs in the private sector and the other third (37.94% or 420,761) in the government sector,” Baldoz said.

The higher placement rate in 2011 reflects “the high-level of confidence that employers from both the private and government sectors” have in the PESOs, she added.

In its report, the BLE said all DOLE regional offices have reported high job placements by the PESOs throughout 2011, with the highest placements registered in Region IV-A, with 191,856; followed by Region VI, 173,782; Region III, 129,949; the NCR, 122,300; Region 12, 72,246; CARAGA, 68,241; Region 11, 59,606; Region VII, 57,548; CAR, 53,362; Region IV-B, 40,698; Region X, 40,252; Region I, 35,496; Region V, 22,246; Region 8, 18,634; Region 2, 12,348; and Region 9, 10,344.

Baldoz said they plan to achieve their goal in 2011 through the provision of a combination of employment facilitation services that focus on poverty reduction and empowerment of the poor, and through the judicious use of the PESO budget, which amounts to only P20.009 million for 2012.

She also said that just like last year, the DOLE will intensify its advocacy for the institutionalization of PESOs in local government units (LGUs) and colleges and universities to make them effective community-based job facilitation institutions.

PESOs are envisioned to help in “address(ing) labor-mismatch by promoting better coordination between employers, academia and government” in the local levels.

“This is why strengthening the PESOs and labor market information and exchange institutions will be one of our priorities this year,” said Baldoz.

Image from Microsoft Office website.