MANILA – As companies compete for a limited pool of qualified jobseekers, they may need to offer more than just higher salaries and perks.

Career platform JobStreet said there are more job opportunities than there are qualified jobseekers right now in the Philippines and jobseekers are now more selective.

“It’s a battle of benefits in terms of how hirers are able to get their candidates. And no other benefit right now is bigger than the work-from-home benefit,” said Rafael Inigo dela Cruz, candidate marketing lead at Jobstreet by Seek.

He said that only 14 percent of jobseekers have are willing to work onsite.

“This is a big drop compared to pre-pandemic levels where 58 percent of Filipinos would prefer to work at the office,” he added.

Dela Cruz attributed the rise in the number of jobs to the reopening of the economy since the COVID-induced pandemic lockdowns.

“You have a lot of industries that have grown exponentially during these periods. Probably top of mind would be the e-commerce industry. In which the need for more employees has grown astronomically,” he said.

The Philippines’ unemployment rate dipped to 4.3 percent in May which was the second lowest rate seen since April 2005, the state statistics bureau said on Friday.

• PH Jobless rate falls further to 4.3 percent in May

--ANC, 7 July 2023

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